-Read the letter from over 20 National LGBT organizations that oppose the current version of ENDA that excludes transgender people.

-The Board of HRC is meeting tomorrow to discuss the most recent developments. Of course the Executive Director of HRC promised a group of transgender people two weeks ago that HRC would oppose ENDA unless it included gender identity.

-SF Pride at Work is sponsoring a 24 hour vigil starting at 8AM in front of Pelosi’s office.

-Click here to read Nadine Smith’s blog on “Don’t Fear the Whip Count.”

-Or her other blog called ” A Moment of Truth.”

Here is my favorite part:

So here we are at a moment of truth for our community and everyone is watching to see if we will hold the line or broker away some portion of our community for the chance at achieving a “partial victory”.

Would we accept a bill that protected gay men but not lesbians? Would we find it reasonable to say “Don’t worry. We’ll come back later for you? Absolutely not. So, the question has finally been called. Will we behave as an LGBT movement with every portion of our community intrinsically and irrevocably linked no matter what? Are we in this together?

Some say laws don’t change hearts and minds but we know they do. Every law and local ordinance we pass has both a legal and symbolic value. Even when enforcement mechanisms are toothless and underfunded, they send a message about how our communities believe everyone ought to be treated. We pursue them not because we think they will punish every bigot who discriminates but because we know they will set a community standard in which discrimination is not a given, no longer legally or socially acceptable.

It is also true that stripping “gender identity/expression:” from the bill sends a symbolic message as well. And it is a dangerous one for a community already marginalized and vulnerable. The language is intrinsic to the viability of the bill and the integrity of our community. To jettison the language from the bill is to succumb to our most fearful impulses and embolden those who oppose equality for all of us.

This isn’t just a question of Federal law. It is sending a message to every local and state legislature considering similar legislation. Now,the laws we pass at the local and state level routinely include gender identity and expression. Every leader in this community knows that these protections are urgently needed. We cannot pretend that we don’t know this and continue to call ourselves leaders. Who do we think we are going to turn to for protection if we cannot even advocate resolutely for our right - the right of each gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender person - to live without violence, harassment and discrimination? We cannot feign solidarity while signaling simultaneously that we will settle for something less. This is our moment of truth and we cannot blink.

Like every minority group that has fought for basic rights, we will never win by the votes of our community alone. What we do have is the moral authority to call out to America to live up its ideals. We have the ability to call on our leaders and our fellow citizens to treat everyone equally under the law, to reject bigotry, prejudice and the discrimination and violence they breed.

To cut out, to throw out protection regardless of gender identity/expression is to cede that moral authority. It is to confirm for our political enemies that a dividing line within the human family is acceptable–the haggling about who is worthy and who is not is all that remains.

This is not the time to do the bigots’ work for them. To make excuses. To call fear pragmatism.

Here is what we need:

Every organization and every individual who shares a commitment to equality to speak in a single voice with the clarity of disability activist Bob Williams: We are in this together. We will leave no one behind