Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley met with several victims of employment discrimination today in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would provide basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Today’s hearing, in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, was the first on ENDA since 2002 (and first hearing for a gender-inclusive ENDA bill), and featured witness testimony from victims of workplace discrimination, including Colonel Diane Schroer, a transgender woman and 25-year veteran of the U.S. Army, and Mike Carney, a gay police officer from Massachusetts.

In an interview with Just Out this morning, Sen. Merkley voiced his opinions on the inevitability of the passing of ENDA.

“I do feel it’s inevitable we will win this battle,” said Merkley. “But we don’t want to win it 30 years or 20 years from now; we want to win this battle of non-discrimination in this two-year legislative cycle. I want to note that the chairman of the committee, Sen. Harkin, said it was his full intention to try to move this bill to the floor next year, and that’s certainly my goal is hearing this fall, and moving to floor action next spring.”

For a full recap on this morning’s ENDA hearing, as well as more with Senator Merkley, pick up tomorrow’s issue of Just Out.