It’s been a difficult few weeks for the LGBT community — ever since Congressional leaders introduced a stripped-down version of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), unleashing a storm of disappointment, outrage and soul-searching among our communities.

But perhaps in facing down adversity we begin to realize who we really are. What I’ve realized in these past few weeks is that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, while comprised of so many different groups and interests, is stronger than ever. Though we may take different views on issues, as some of us have regarding this important legislation, we are hardly fractured (as a few columnists might like to believe). We are standing tall as a powerful force for civil rights in this country.

A brief recap of the past few weeks: Congressional leaders, afraid they would not have enough votes for an inclusive ENDA, stripped out protections for transgender people that this bill sought to provide. Groups, including Lambda Legal, swiftly protested, making clear that a bill that did not protect all of us would be unacceptable. 

Lambda Legal then released an analysis of the bill showing that there were a number of loopholes that made the new version of the bill inadequately protective even for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.  Four other major LGBT legal organizations joined Lambda Legal and issued a joint statement expanding upon our analysis of the bill. We explained that by deleting the previously-included ban on discrimination based on gender identity and expression, House leaders severely weakened protections that would have been provided for lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals who may not conform to common stereotypes of what it means to be male or female in our society. We and the other four major LGBT legal organizations all joined more than 150 organizations calling for an inclusive employment nondiscrimination bill.  I've been heartened to see so many people realize that, when one part of the community is harmed, it affects us all.

When we decided at Lambda Legal to expressly add the rights of transgender people to our mission statement, it was not simply lip service. We recognized that diversity was a strength, not a deficit, and that, as our ranks grew, our work and our impact would continue to broaden.

We had also been fighting — and continue to fight — discrimination based on gender identity in cases involving identity documents, access to medical treatment and employment. Through this work we have come to see the inextricable links between discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex stereotypes. Truth is, we are all "gender non-conforming" in that we break gender stereotypes about relationships and identity.  We have been fighting from the beginning for the right to be ourselves and live without discrimination based on stereotypes that we be or act like something else.

Any time we parse out rights based on one characteristic, too many people fall through the cracks. As my colleague H. Alexander Robinson, director of the National Black Justice Coalition, recently pointed out, during the Black Civil Rights movement, rights came incrementally but they were extended to everyone.

Members of the LGBT community are feeling strong emotions now — angry, energized, inspired.  I hope we keep our eyes on the prize and direct our energy at our representatives in Congress who will vote either to uphold or deny our rights.

Congress must pass strong protection against employment discrimination to all lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people. We cannot compromise and accept a version of ENDA that does not protect people from both sexual orientation discrimination and discrimination based on gender identity and expression. If a narrower law were enacted, it would leave behind some who are most in need of protection against discrimination and would hinder our legal work on behalf of victims of workplace discrimination. Standing up for an inclusive law may make the fight tougher at the moment, but in the end we will all be stronger for it.