Rep. Barney Frank

Your weekday morning blend from Instant Tea:
1. Openly gay Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., says he plans to re-introduce the Employment Nondiscrimination Act this week. Frank acknowledges ENDA has no chance of passing the GOP-controlled House this session, but he says it can be an organizing tool, particularly with regard to the transgender issue: “This is an organizing effort. I’m going to be urging people to spend their time talking to those who have voted in the past for ENDA and are supportive of ENDA but where we’re not certain they’re still with us on the transgender issue. So, that’s what – having a bill before you makes it easier to organize people to do that.”

2. In a major breakthrough for LGBT immigration equality, some deportations involving bi-national same-sex couples have been put on hold pending the outcome of lawsuits challenging the Defense of Marriage Act, according to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service.
3. The Arkansas Legislature has done what the Texas Legislature could not — passing an anti-bullying bill that includes both sexual orientation and gender identity. Specific mentions of LGBT youth were removed from anti-bullying bills in Texas to facilitate their chances of passage. In Arkansas, the fully inclusive anti-bullying measure passed the Senate 34-0 and the House 68-18. It now awaits Gov. Mike Beebe’s signature. How bout it, Texas?