House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi June 21. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Democrats in both chambers of Congress on June 21 reintroduced the Equality Act, legislation the party has sought to pass for more than a decade that would extend federal nondiscrimination protections to include LGBTQ+ Americans.
The lawmakers announced the move in a press conference convened by U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) who, respectively, reintroduced the Equality Act in the House along with its companion bill in the Senate.
They were joined by top Congressional Democrats including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Democratic House Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), and U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), along with Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson and National Center for Transgender Equality Policy Director Olivia Hunt.
The legislators and LGBTQ+ advocacy group leaders delivered remarks stressing the importance of passing the Equality Act, noting its unanimous support from Democrats in both chambers.
“As the first openly gay person of color to serve in Congress, I am acutely aware of the impacts lawful discrimination has on our marginalized communities in the United States, and the LGBTQI+ community have been subject to discrimination, violence, and the denial of their full personhood under the law for far too long,” Takano said.
Responding to a question from the Washington Blade on whether the latest version of the Equality Act differs from those that were introduced before, and whether compromises might be necessary to earn enough Republican votes, Takano said the bill has not been changed, adding, “I fully intend to pass a full-strength, undiluted Equality Act into law.”
Under the leadership of former Congressman David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the legislation was passed in the lower chamber in 2019 and 2021 but ultimately failed to move through the Senate. After announcing his planned departure from Congress to lead his state’s largest nonprofit organization, Cicilline told the Blade he was confident in his California colleague’s ability to successfully shepherd the bill over the finish line.
Takano and Cicilline serve or have served as chairs and co-chairs of the Congressional Equality Caucus alongside other openly LGBTQ+ members including U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) and Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), both of whom joined the press conference.
Comments from Democratic leaders also focused on the fraught political environment with respect to LGBTQ+ rights and the ways in which the Equality Act represents a continuation of some of the most important work the Congress has undertaken to protect Americans from discrimination.
“As extreme MAGA state legislators across the country continue their assault on LGBTQ+ Americans, especially the trans community,” Pelosi warned, “the fight against bigotry and discrimination remains urgent as ever.”
Pelosi credited the tireless work of LGBTQ+ activists for the groundbreaking legislative victories the community has secured over the decades of her time in Congress, noting especially the enduring legacy of the movement that coalesced in the 1980s around the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Pelosi also committed to preserving the scope and strength of the Equality Act, recalling how she had roundly rejected the arguments from members who believed the 2010 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act would not pass unless the transgender community was excluded from its protections. “I said we’re never taking out trans” from the landmark bill, she said.
Several members who spoke on June 21, including Pelosi, invoked the memory of their late colleague, congressman and iconic civil rights activist John Lewis, who, in a manner consistent with the principles to which he dedicated his life and career, was an early and ardent champion of the Equality Act.
With the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Congress outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, in areas from housing and employment to credit and education. Just months later, on a day that became known as Bloody Sunday, Lewis was among the nonviolent demonstrators who were brutally beaten by Alabama state troopers for protesting the systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters.
The Equality Act’s promise to include LGBTQ+ Americans in the protections from discrimination that Congress first established nearly 60 years ago is a continuation of the legacy of fighting for the fundamentally American values of justice and equality, the lawmakers said.
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