WASHINGTON, May 26 (UPI) — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a proposal late Wednesday to protect federal workers in the LGBT community from being fired after the measure dramatically failed to pass last week.
The proposal, authored by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., would prevent federal contractors from receiving contacts from the federal government if those contractors discriminated against gay, lesbian and transgender people.
The measure, which is attached to an annual spending bill for energy and water programs, passed with a 223-195 vote. Maloney, who is openly gay, re-introduced his proposal, which he said was “to redo a mistake.”
Democratic members of the House became enraged after the amendment failed last Thursday. Democrats chanted “shame” after Republicans found enough votes to defeat the amendment 213-212 shortly after the allotted time to vote ran out when it was initially going to pass 217-206.
Democrats thought they had enough Republicans supporting the measure but then several changed their votes.
“After all of the division last week, it’s refreshing to see so many friends, colleagues from both sides of the aisle support equality, ” Maloney said Wednesday.
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