Title: ELCA Backs Employment Non-Discrimination Act
ELCA NEWS SERVICE NEWSBRIEF

August 21, 1996

ELCA BACKS ENDA

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has endorsed
the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and has encouraged
the U.S. Senate to support it also.  "ENDA would extend federal
employment discrimination protections currently provided based on
race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability to
(cover) sexual orientation," Kay S. Dowhower, director of the
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington,
D.C., wrote in a July 30 letter to U.S. Senators.  "Core
commitments" of the ELCA -- "advocating dignity and justice for
all people" and "joining with others to remove obstacles of
discrimination and indifference" -- have inspired the church's
"support for legislation, referendums and policies to protect the
civil rights of all persons, regardless of their sexual
orientation and to prohibit discrimination in housing,
employment, and public services and accommodations."  Dowhower
called ENDA "one step toward fulfilling these commitments."  LOGA
is the federal public policy advocacy office of the ELCA.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955