By 61-30, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed a key Senate procedural vote early this evening, avoiding a GOP filibuster, and making its full passage through the Senate likely. The “cloture” vote is a vote to begin debate. Since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced last month that he would bring the anti-discrimination legislation to the floor for a vote, the three remaining Senate Democratic holdouts jumped on board last week, followed this morning by GOP Senator Dean Heller, giving the legislation the 60 votes it needed to avoid a filibuster — and crashing the religious right’s hopes.
At the last moment, Senators Portman and Toomey voted for cloture, assuring passage after several long moments. There were applause — a rare event — which were immediately quashed.
LOOK: Did Your Senators Just Vote For Or Against ENDA? Here’s The Complete List
The bill will face a full Senate vote later this week.
Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin who became the first openly-LGBTÂ U.S. Senator, spoke in favor of the legislation this afternoon.
“I realize that for some, this is not an easy vote,” Baldwin told her colleagues. “I understand that for some, they may believe that it’s not good politics. But I want to say that I have a deep respect for those who choose to stand on the side of progress for our country this week. So for those that stand up this week and answer the call for courage, I can say with confidence your courage will be respected and remembered when the history of this struggle is written.”
Just before the vote, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) compared ENDA to “historic” civil rights legislation from the 1960’s.
Some Senate Republicans are challenged with the transgender protections of the legislation, and there have been behind-the-scenes reports that some might offer their support were those protections removed.
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, a 54-year old Republican from Illinois who was hospitalized in january, 2012 after a stroke, spoke on the Senate floor for the first time since his absence, in favor of ENDA.
WATCH: First Floor Speech Since Senator Mark Kirk’s Stroke Is In Support Of ENDA
In just a few minutes, I will be speaking on the @SenateFloor for the first time since my stroke about #ENDA. #NeverGiveUp
— Mark Kirk (@SenatorKirk) November 4, 2013
The legislation, even if it passes the Senate, still faces almost no chance of making it through the House — or even to the House floor for a vote. Today, John Boehner falsely called it a jobs killer and, also falsely, claimed LGBT people are already protected under the law, a political maneuver for cover the Speaker but an assumption most Americans have.
LOOK:Â Obama Pens HuffPo Op-ed Supporting ENDA, Gets Slammed By Pro-ENDA Org
The first anti-discrimination bill for LGBT employees was introduced in the Senate in 1974, and has been introduced into every Congress in one form or another one since 1994. The last time ENDA received a vote in the Senate was 2006, where it lost in a 49-50 vote.
Come back to The New Civil Rights Movement shortly for a list of how each Senator voted.
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Image: Screenshot via C-SPAN