Gay rights bill gets Senate vote

WASHINGTON — The Senate is poised to vote today on a bill prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, but its prospects in the House remain dim.

Speaker John Boehner reaffirmed his long-standing opposition to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act Monday. "The Speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs," said Boehner press secretary Michael Steel.

Today's scheduled procedural vote in the Senate — which needs 60 of the 100 senators to move forward — could clear the way for the first vote since 1996, when a similar bill failed in the Senate by a single vote.

The bill passed a Senate committee in July on a bipartisan 15-7 vote. Republicans Orrin Hatch of Utah, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska all voted for it in committee.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is a co-sponsor, and Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. said Monday he supports the bill because it "raises the federal standards to match what we have come to expect in Nevada."

With at least five Republicans in favor, the bill can pass with the support of 53 Democrats and the two independents.

Hatch's support is especially noteworthy. He voted against the proposal the last time it came up for a vote in 1996, saying it would result in a "litigation bonanza."

''The moral and religious sensibilities of millions of Americans will be overridden by this legislation,'' Hatch said in 1996, when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But proponents won his support with a provision that would exempt religious schools and organizations.

That exemption does not go far enough for some social conservatives, however. Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed says he opposes workplace discrimination. "But this bill opens a Pandora's box of assaults on religious freedom, litigation, and compliance costs for businesses and nonprofits that will be a nightmare," he said.

A 2009 report by the Go! vernment Accountability Office found "relatively few employment discrimination complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity" in the 22 states that have such laws.

Contributing: Erin Kelly of Gannett News Service

Follow @gregorykorte on Twitter.