Democrats reintroduce Equality Act in the House

Democrats hope to pass the Equality Act this year, which seeks to incorporate legal protections against LGBTQ discrimination into the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. The bill was introduced in the House by Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA) and by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in the Senate, who will try to ensure that, contrary to the popular saying, the fifth time is the charm for this legislation.

Congress has seen this bill before: Democrats introduced it unsuccessfully in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. On the first two occasions, it died in committee, while on the last two, it managed to pass the House of Representatives but then failed to pass Senate committees.

The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, economic status, sex and national origin. The addition would add discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation to the list.

According to information from Human Rights Campaign, only 23 states and Washington, D.C., have banned this type of discrimination when it comes to employment.

On the other hand, according to the Movement Forward Project, the same number of states "explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

"We will introduce this bill during Pride Month. It is a moment of celebration but also an opportunity to reflect on a time when going out was almost impossible," said Takano, the main sponsor of the legislation in the House and one of 12 LGBTQ legislators in the current Congress.

"We cannot allow extremists in our country to once again normalize homophobia and attacks on LGBTQ people. We cannot walk away from the discrimination that still exists for so many LGBTQ people today," added the congressman, who came to Capitol Hill in 2013.

According to the Heritage Foundation, the nation's leading conservative think tank, the legislation would harm employers, medical professionals, parents and children, women and nonprofit organizations.

"Where the original Civil Rights Act of 1964 furthered equality by ensuring that African-Americans had equal access to public accommodations and material goods, the Equality Act would further inequality by penalizing everyday Americans for their beliefs about marriage and biological sex," Heritage said.

The bill has the support of the leadership of the Democratic Party, today held by Hakeem Jeffries, who said he was "proud" that the text "is being reintroduced as one of our priority bills in the 118th Congress."

Of the last four attempts, the legislation came close to being enacted in 2021, when Democrats held majorities in both houses and also had the White House. While it passed the lower House with all Democrats and three Republicans voting for it, it stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee.