Rep. Loretta Linda Sánchez Gathers Evidence of Discrimination Against LGBT Latino Workers

CORRECTED POST: My mistake: It's Linda Sánchez, not her sister Loretta, leading today's hearing. Corrected throughout (along with photo).

The sister of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) is scheduled to lead a congressional field hearing this morning on hiring bias and on-the-job discrimination faced by LGBT Latino/as.

“Rep. Sánchez will take testimony from national leaders at Latino and LGBT organizations on the importance of passing LGBT workplace protections to prevent harassment and discrimination,” organizers say of Linda Sánchez (D-Yes Cerritos).

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Sánchez, chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Civil Rights, hosts the 10 a.m. field hearing in the Edison Room at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) offices, 634 S. Spring St., Los Angeles. She arrives in the wake of a new report titled “A Broken Bargain for LGBT Workers of Color,” which documents “the many ways in which LGBT Latinos are among the most disadvantaged workers in America,” according to organizers.

The report indicates that 14 percent of LGBT Latinos were unemployed at the time it was compiled compared to 11 percent of non-LGBT Latinos; and that only 18 percent of LGBT Latino workers were out to everyone at work compared to 29 percent of non-Latino white LGBT workers. (Read the report in English or Spanish here: http://www.lgbtmap.org/workers-of-color.)

The fact-finding mission also comes after the U.S. Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) by a bipartisan margin of 64-32 earlier this month. Leaders of Latino and LGBT organizations are now calling on Speaker John Boehner to allow a House vote on ENDA, which would end workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Among the witnesses Sánchez is scheduled to hear from are: Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF; Bamby Salcedo, president of The Trans-Latin@ Coalition; Tico Almeida, president of the LGBT organization Freedom to Work; and Monica Trasandes, director of Spanish Language Media at GLAAD.

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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