( CNN ) -- `` People should be able to breathe -- to not have to worry about being fired because of their sexual orientation or identity . '' That seems like a simple enough request , huh Congress ? It 's a personal one , too , since it comes from Andre Cooley , a 28-year-old who says he was fired in 2010 because his supervisors at a corrections facility in Mississippi found out he 's gay . It 's time to ban that discrimination , he told me Monday . `` It 's way , way , way past time . '' A large majority of Americans agree with him . In fact , a majority of Americans in every state , even conservative Mississippi , support legislation that would ban workplace discrimination against lesbian , gay , bisexual and transgender people . And that makes perfect sense for exactly one reason : To oppose this legislation , which is called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act , or ENDA , is to support the idea that LGBT people can be fired for being themselves . It 's a clear matter of right and wrong , fair and unfair . This is n't a Republican or Democrat thing . It 's a human thing . Related : Gay people live in 50 Americas . Sure , conservatives will trot out all manner of dated and discriminatory arguments to say the legislation is n't needed or will cause unwanted problems . They 'll say , `` This is less about tolerance and equality and more about oppressing the freedoms of others . '' When they do so , they 'll sound to most Americans -- to the 70 % or more of us who support this legislation -- like they 're parodying themselves in a `` Daily Show '' segment . Whose freedoms , exactly , are being oppressed if a person ca n't be fired for being gay ? And on what planet is freedom increased if someone can be fired , legally , just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity ? We have laws to protect people of different races , religions and disabilities from being fired because of who they are . But no federal legislation for LGBT people . A minority of states have passed laws of their own , but why should it be legal for a lesbian in Utah to receive no workplace protection when , across a state border , she would have it in Colorado ? This is an issue the American people have decided on . They know it 's good for business , as Apple 's CEO argued in The Wall Street Journal . `` We 've found that when people feel valued for who they are , they have the comfort and confidence to do the best work of their lives , '' Tim Cook wrote . And they know it undermines who we are as Americans , as President Barack Obama said this week . `` It 's offensive . It 's wrong . And it needs to stop , '' the president wrote in an op-ed in The Huffington Post , `` because in the United States of America , who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense . '' Related : The county where no one 's gay . Seems pretty clear-cut , right ? Well , Congress is still having some trouble . Sixty-one senators , including seven Republicans , voted Monday night to bring the bill to the Senate floor for debate . There , it has a good chance of passing . But none of that will matter , really , if the nondiscrimination bill ca n't get past the House of Representatives . Also on Monday , House Speaker John Boehner reaffirmed his opposition to ENDA . `` The Speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs , especially small business jobs , '' Boehner 's spokesman said , according to The Huffington Post . Nevermind that that argument was undermined by a June Government Accountability Office report that found that not to be true in states that already have nondiscrimination laws . What 's scary is that Boehner 's opposition to this civil rights legislation could keep it from a vote in the House . Let 's hope logic and compassion change his mind . I know that sounds naive , but stranger things have happened . Cooley , for example , the corrections officer in Mississippi , sued and got his job back . He was able to do so because he works for a public employer . Had he worked for a private company , he might not have been so lucky , attorneys and experts who specialize in LGBT employment law told me in March when I first reported on Cooley and his saga . Related : Young and out in Mississippi . He 's back at the job he loves . And he 's able to be open with his co-workers about who he is now . Maybe that sounds like a small thing . But think of what it 's like to live in fear that someone at work will find out your secret and then you 'll be out of a job . This is what it 's like for gay people in so many states . It was the case for Cooley . Now that Cooley is openly gay at work , and has legal protection because of his court case , he 's able to be himself . `` Everything at work is great , '' he told me . It should be that way for others , too . The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of John D. Sutter .
John Sutter : Congress should pass Employment Non - Discrimination Act . ENDA would protect LGBT people from being fired because of who they are . A majority of voters in every state support this bill , surveys show . Sutter says it 's a matter of fairness and justice , not discrimination .