House of Representatives Pass Equality Act Protecting Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities

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The House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass the Equality Act. It protects Americans who identify with LGBTQ+, something the community has been fighting for decades now. It’s a historic milestone, combating the injustices this country still enables. 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is in the process of modification, welcoming the Equality Act. It would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This includes: workplace, housing, public accommodations, public education, and the jury system.

All three House Republicans —  Reps. John Katko (NY), Tom Reed (NY), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) — and democrats join in passing the Equality Act. It came down to 224-204, moving to the senate, needing 10 Republican senators and 50 Democrat senators. 

Democrats are now in control of the senate, preventing what occurred in the 2019 legislation, which was blocked due to the Republican-led senate. Congress is becoming more progressive, accepting the lives of queer and trans individuals. Rachel Levine is the first trans women to be confirmed by the U.S. senate as assistant health secretary ; President Biden tweeted, “Transgender rights are human rights — and the House made that very clear today by passing the equality act.” 

“The Civil Rights Act is a sacred pillar of freedom in our country. It is not amended lightly,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

National LGBTQ+ groups have applauded the bill’s entrance within the House and hopefully process through the senate. The Trevor Project, a LGBTQ+ nonprofit, spoke to Vox, about the House’s decision and what they’re hoping to gain from the decision.

Amy Paley, executive director of the Trevor Project, told Vox, “At the Trevor Project, our crisis counselors constantly hear from LGBTQ young people who are negatively impacted by discrimination and stigma in their everyday life and want nothing more than to be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else.” 

“We hope the Senate will act swiftly and send a strong message to LGBTQ young people that they deserve to be able to live their lives openly, proudly, and without fear,” she continues. 

House Democrats who identify as LGBTQ are speaking out on how the decision is long-overdue. This in the aspect of representation and protection in the law. 

Rep. Al Green, who represents Texas’s ninth district,  scolds the GOP and the decision of the House. 

“You used God to enslave my foreparents. You used God to segregate me in schools,” Green intoned. “You used God to put me in the back of the bus. Have you no shame? God created every person in this room. Are you saying that God made a mistake?,” he says in his speech. 

It was a direct response to Rep. Greg Steuble, who said transgender people were an, “offense” to God. Religious opposition within the GOP wouldn’t be the first time it has clashed with trans identities. Sen. Rand Paul misinformed the public with his violent  transphobic rhetoric at Dr. Rachel Levine’s confirmation hearing. 

Rep. Dan Crenshaw says republicans need to be more explicit when it comes to their anti-messaging of the Equality bill — that they\’re opposed to LGBTQ+ rights due to religious opposition, not because they\’re openly transphobic. 

The Equality bill will have an even harder time in the senate, considering it needs 60 votes. Vox questioned Sen. Jeff Berkeley (D-OR) about the situation, to which he brought up the Non-Discrimination Act. He mentions how it was a  more narrow bill, thus allowed Democrats to lobby their Republican counterparts for the requisite votes. In hindsight that\’s what it might take to get the Equality Act pass in the senate.  

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