Joe is an 11-year-old boy who lives with his mom in Pennsylvania. He recently wrote a letter to his member of Congress, asking, “Please don’t let [my mom] get fired because she is gay.”

Joe writes:

I live in your district and I wanted to tell you about my mom being gay. I don’t want her to get fired because she has a very good job and we need all the money we could get so pleas [sic] don’t let her get fired because she is gay. It would mean a lot to me to be happy and have my mom working. It would mean a lot to me if you would pass ENDA.

Joe wrote the letter as part of an initiative by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to collect ENDA-related messages during the marriage equality rallies outside the Supreme Court last month.

Marriage equality may be the splashy headline news, but for many LGBT families, employment protections are equally, if not more important. ENDA was reintroduced in both chambers of Congress yesterday, and a number of LGBT organizations are urging President Obama to issue an executive order extending what protections he can until such time as ENDA passes. Here’s hoping both happen. Job security means a stronger economy—and that’s good for all families, Joe’s included.