Republican Nevada Senator Dean Heller announced his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act hours before the test vote, guaranteeing the 60 votes necessary to move the bill ahead, the Associated Press reported.
Heller, who said he backed the measure because "discrimination must not be tolerated under any circumstance," joined the 55 Democratic majority and four other Republican senators in ensuring Majority Leader Harry Reid will be able to move ahead on the legislation, hoping to pass it by the end of next week, according to the AP.
The four Republican senators who backed the bill were Susan Collins R-Maine, Mark Kirk R-Illinois, Orrin Hatch R-Utah and Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska, with no other Republicans expected to support the legislation, the AP reported.
The federal law currently prohibits the discrimination of an employee due to their basis of sex, race and national origin, but does not stop an employer from firing or refusing to hire someone because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, according to the AP.
If passed, the bill would deter employers with 15 or more employees from making employment decisions based on someone's sexual orientation, the AP reported.
In a statement, Heller said "after listening to Nevadans' concerns about this issue from a variety of viewpoints and after numerous conversations with my colleagues, I feel that supporting this legislation is the right thing to do," the AP reported.
Heller said the bill "raises the federal standards to match what we have come to expect in Nevada, which is that discrimination must not be tolerated under any circumstance."
The bill would be the first major gay rights legislation to pass since Congress voted to repeal the ban on gays serving in the military in December 2010, according to the AP. President Barack Obama has also called on Congress to pass the bill, but the bill faces strong opposition in the house due to conservative groups.
The Faith and Freedom Coalition released a statement on Monday saying the bill is "anti-family" and "a threat to free enterprise," adding it will cause problems for small family-owned business, according to the AP.
According to the founder of the group, Ralph Reed, the bill "will subject many employers of faith to violate their deeply-held religious beliefs or face stiff federal sanctions and exorbitant legal costs," the statement said.
The president of the Human Rights Campaign, Chad Griffin, welcomed Heller's decision, and said "the Speaker, of all people, should certainly know what it's like to go to work every day afraid of being fired," adding "instead of letting the far right trample him again, it's time for Speaker Boehner to stand with the majority of everyday Republican voters and support ENDA."
Currently, the District of Columbia and 22 states have already approved laws banning discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation with 17 of those states prohibiting employers from discriminating based on gender identity, the AP reported. A United States Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman said on Monday the chamber remains neutral on the bill.
