Moving Video Explains Why LGBT Workers Are Fighting For ENDA

When Mia Macy landed a job with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in California, she was thrilled. A few days later, though, she claims that the federal agency told her the position had been eliminated, before quietly hiring somebody else.

The veteran and police officer had a strong hunch why: she had told the bureau that she was transitioning to become a woman. Without a job, she was soon ruined financially, losing her family's home to foreclosure. But Macy has no legal recourse.

Macy is the first person spotlighted in a new series by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, as part of its campaign for Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, a federal bill that would ban discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans (watch the full video below). Currently, it's legal in 29 states to fire someone for being gay, and while California bans transgender discrimination, federal law doesn't (and Macy was seeking a federal job.)