The Equality Act could soon be getting a vote in the Senate. What are its chances?
WASHINGTON – Nearly half-a-century after the first legislation to protect against LGBTQ+ discrimination passed Congress, lawmakers will again face a vote on a bill that would provide more protections for the community.
And while some additional protections for LGBTQ people were upheld by the Supreme Court last year, experts say federal legislation is needed to protect the community as a growing number of states are passing laws restricting LGBTQ rights, and a more conservative Supreme Court has signaled its desire to strengthen religious freedom protections.
The Equality Act — sweeping legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity — will soon get a vote in the Senate, and if it passes, make its way to President Joe Biden’s desk.
According to national advocacy group GLAAD 2020 survey: An overwhelming number of Americans, believe LGBTQ people have federal protections against discrimination that are, in reality, not available to them — including protection against discrimination in housing, public spaces and employment benefits.
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It’s still legal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in almost 30 states said GLAAD communications coordinator Serena Sonoma.
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Here’s how the Equality Act would combat some of this, and its chances of becoming law:
What the Equality Act would do
The Equality Act would amend existing federal civil rights laws — including the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 — to extend protections for LGBTQ Americans.
The Civil Rights Act had banned discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion and national origin, and the Equality Act would go a step further to include protections on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity.
It also would prohibit such discrimination in public places, on transportation and in government-funded programs.
By expanding federal civil rights to prohibit discrimination, it would provide the protections many Americans believe had already been enshrined into law.
Although many states have enacted anti-discrimination laws, advocates, such as the Human Rights Campaign argue that today’s “patchwork” of laws across states leaves LGBTQ Americans vulnerable to discrimination. They say would make significant progress toward legal protections for all Americans.
It could also affect what is being taught in classrooms by enabling protections within education, particularly on how teachers implement LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum: LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum is lacking in many classrooms. Nationally, fewer than 20% of respondents to GLSEN’s 2019 National School Climate Survey said they had been taught positive representations of LGBTQ+ people, history or events in their schools.
More:Kids aren’t learning LGBTQ history. The Equality Act might change that.
Passed House roughly on party lines
The House passed the bill in February on a largely party-line vote. Lawmakers passed the legislation on a 224-206 with three Republicans voting with all Democrats.
My mother introduced the first LGBTQ rights bill to Congress. Let’s make her proud.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote to colleagues Friday he would be bringing the bill to a vote before the month of June ends, which is Pride Month.
Earlier he said he would use his powers as majority leader to put the bill on the floor, and would dare Republicans to vote against it.
However, several Senate Republicans have expressed concerns that the legislation could infringe upon religious liberty, or lead to inequality in athletic competitions if transgender women compete against cisgender women.
In March, Senators in the Judiciary Committee sparred over the legislation, with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, saying it was “none of the government’s business what consenting adults do in their own bedrooms. It is none of the government’s business the sexual orientation or gender identity of adults in their own lives.”
Rather, Cruz argued, the Equality Act is “not about that. This bill is about mandating that biological males should be allowed to compete in girls’ sports and … about suing pastors and churches if they teach biblical teachings on sexuality and morality.”
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., argued that religion was being used as a shield to protect discrimination, saying “We have seen this phenomenon of religion being used to justify slavery, segregation, bans on interracial marriage.”
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The debate in the upper chamber comes as LGBTQ rights have become a contentious political topic nation-wide, with more states are passing controversial ban on transgender athletes participating in women’s sports, like Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis enacting the measure on the first day of Pride Month.
Biden urged Congress to pass it
Biden said signing the bill into law was one of his top legislative priorities — one that was not accomplished within his first 100 days in office.
He urged Congress in April, during his first address to a joint session of Congress, to pass the Equality Act “to protect the rights of LGBTQ Americans.”
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Biden pledged to sign it into law in his first 100 days of office, which was not possible since it was not through Congress, but one of his earliest acts supporting the transgender community was lifting President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops.
On his first day in office, he signed an executive order implementing a Supreme Court ruling that declared anti-LGBTQ job discrimination to be illegal as a form of sex discrimination.
The first day of Pride Month, Biden again called “on the Congress to pass the Equality Act, which will ensure civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ people and families across our country.”
“While I am proud of the progress my Administration has made in advancing protections for the LGBTQ+ community, I will not rest until full equality for LGBTQ+ Americans is finally achieved and codified into law,” Biden continued.
GLAAD has compiled a list of resources for transgender people here.
Contributing: Christine Fernando, John Fritze, Elinor Aspegren