The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Equality Act, an important LGBTQ bill on rights that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in numerous areas, including employment, housing, education, public accommodation, credit and jury service.
“The LGBTQ community has been waiting long enough,” DR.I. Representative David Cicilline, who filed the bill, said on the floor. “The time has come to award the blessings of freedom and equality to all Americans, no matter who they are or who they love.”
The vote of 224-206 was largely along party lines, with only three Republicans throwing their support behind the bill. A similar measure was introduced in the Senate on Tuesday, where it faces an uphill battle because a threshold of 60 votes is needed to circumvent a filibuster.
However, the bill now has the support of the White House. President Joe Biden said during his campaign that the adoption of the Equality Act would be a priority in his first 100 days in office.
“Today’s vote is an important milestone for equality that brings us closer to ensuring that every person is treated equally under the law,” Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David said in a statement. “The ball is now in the court of the Senate to pass the Equality Act and ultimately enable the LGBTQ Americans to lead their lives without discrimination.”
The law amends the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and identity. It has been launched annually by Cicilline, one of nine LGBTQ representatives, since 2015. It passed the House in 2019 for the first time with 236-173 votes, including eight Republicans, but could not be heard in the GOP-dominated Senate.
Opponents say the bill affects the rights to the first amendment, especially freedom of speech and religious freedom. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, warned on its website that the Equality Act “would force employers and workers to meet new sexual norms or lose their business and jobs.”
The foundation also predicted that the law’s protection for the trans-community would force doctors to “act against their best medical judgment and offer transitional therapies” and incite discrimination against female athletes.
“Women of all ages can expect to lose more and more opportunities … to biological men who have a natural advantage in sports and physical activity,” the group said. “The Equality Act will meet the purpose of Title IX, which was intended to ensure that women have the same opportunities as men, also in sport, the whole purpose, and leave women vulnerable to sexual assault.”
Biden reiterated its support last week for the introduction of the House Bill, calling it a ‘critical step in ensuring that America adheres to our fundamental values of equality and freedom for all.’
“LGBTQ + Americans and their families have been denied far too long,” he said in a statement. “The Equality Act provides federal civil rights protection that has long ceased to be based on sexual orientation and gender identity … giving the courage and resilience of the LGBTQ + movement a lasting law.”
On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to implement the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling and also to enforce regulations prohibiting sex discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Last October, Biden told Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal that the adoption of the Equality Act would ensure that “no future president can ever turn back civil rights and protection for LGBTQ + people.”
“Too many states do not have laws that explicitly protect LGBTQ + people from discrimination,” Biden said. “It is wrong to deny people access to services or housing because of who they are or who they love.”
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