WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which was introduced by Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act and related federal laws to ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) individuals.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a cosponsor of the Senate version of the bill (S. 393), lauded the leadership of Congressman Cicilline and urged the U.S. Senate to take up and pass the Equality Act.  This legislation would amend the landmark federal anti-discrimination laws to explicitly add sexual orientation and gender identity to longstanding bans on discrimination in employment, education, public accommodations, and jury service.

“I commend Congressman Cicilline for his leadership and dedication to passing the Equality Act, fighting discrimination, and expanding legal protections for all Americans.  Every person in this country, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or who they love, deserves to be treated with fairness and dignity.  Fundamentally, what this bill does is keep the American promise of liberty, equality, and equal protection under the law for all.  And it does that by ensuring that non-discrimination protections apply to LGBTQ+ Americans in housing, health care, education, and other critical parts of everyday life,” said Reed.

Now that the bill has passed the House, it must also be approved by the U.S. Senate before it can be sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.  Passage of this legislation in the U.S. Senate requires a 60 vote threshold.

The Equality Act previously passed the House in 2019, but was blocked from consideration in the U.S. Senate by then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

The legislation gained momentum last year and would expand on the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2020 ruling in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County that workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited as a form of sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  However, the ruling has not yet been nationally extended to other areas of potential discrimination—including housing, public accommodations, jury service, access to credit, and more.  Many Americans believe that such protections are already explicitly written into federal civil rights law, but this is not the case.  The Equality Act would finally enshrine these protections into federal law under all areas of potential discrimination and ensure that these essential protections for LGBTQ+ Americans are not subject to the whims of a changing court.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order reaffirming and broadening protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community.  But without the force of legislative action, the protections from the executive order could be reversed with the stroke of a pen by a future President.

“Opponents of this bill have used all sorts of claims to imply that enshrining equality for LBGTQ+ Americans will somehow erode rights and freedoms for others.  And that is simply not the case.  In Rhode Island and many other states, the laws of the Equality Act are already largely in effect.  Every American, regardless of what state they live in, should have equal protection under the law,” said Reed.  “I urge my colleagues in the Senate to help bring this bill to the floor and let the Senate debate, vote, and work its will.  This law would provide a shield against bigotry and give LGBTQ+ people the same rights as their fellow Americans.”

In addition to Rhode Island, states that have already enacted various non-discrimination laws similar to the Equality Act include: California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Hawaii; Illinois; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Minnesota; Nevada; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; Oregon; Vermont; Virginia; and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

The Equality Act has been endorsed by several leading advocacy organizations, including: the Human Rights Campaign; the NAACP; the Urban League; the American Civil Liberties Union; the National Women’s Law Center; the National Center for Transgender Equality; the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; the National Black Justice Coalition; the National Center for Lesbian Rights; the National LGBTQ taskforce; Lambda Legal; Family Equality Council; the National Partnership for Women and Families; the Transgender Law Center; Freedom for all Americans; SAGE; PFLAG; and the Center for American Progress.