“In most states, a same-sex couple can get married on Saturday, post pictures on Facebook on Sunday, and be fired from their job or kicked out of their apartment on Monday,” Rhode Island Democratic Rep. David Cicilline said, as he and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introducted comprehensive legislation that would give LGBTs the same civil rights protections as other Americans.
The bill, called Equality Act, would updated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of already protected classes: race, color, sex, religion and national origin.
Members of congress gathered in the Senate’s Lyndon B. Johnson room to announce the legislation. See the full video after the jump:
