The Equality Act Is the LGBT Rights Bill We Want and Need
In
1974, the Equality Act was introduced to add sexual orientation
throughout the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Twenty years later, for various
political reasons, the bill was stripped down to be only an employment
rights bill and renamed ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
ENDA has been the centerpiece federal legislation ever since -- although
gender identity was excluded from the act until 2007. And this week, we
are very pleased to announce that ENDA is being replaced with the
Equality Act, a more comprehensive bill that when passed will offer
protection in employment, housing, public accommodations, and four other
areas.
NCTE
has advocated for over 10 years for refocusing on a comprehensive bill
more akin to the original Equality Act. The most notable difference
between the Equality Act and its 1974 namesake is that it includes both
gender identity and sexual orientation -- and unlike in 2007, removing
gender identity is now completely unthinkable.
Here's what you may want to know.
1)
The Equality Act will be introduced this Thursday, July 23 by Senator
Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in the U.S. Senate and Rep. Cicilline (D-RI) in the
U.S. House of Representatives, along with many co-sponsors: Senators
Tammy Baldwin, and Cory Booker, and Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and
John Lewis. They will be joined by a large number of co-sponsors.
2) The bill will explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in employment, housing, education, credit, public accommodations, jury service, and federally funded programs. (Gender identity and sexual orientation are defined the same way they were in ENDA.)
2) The bill will explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in employment, housing, education, credit, public accommodations, jury service, and federally funded programs. (Gender identity and sexual orientation are defined the same way they were in ENDA.)
3)
The bill will also codify the existing interpretations of sexual
orientation and gender identity bias as being forms of sex
discrimination, which many courts and federal agencies including the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have already embraced. Think of
it as wearing both a belt and suspenders. So for instance, if a trans
person is discriminated against in their job, it will be clearly illegal
as both gender identity discrimination and sex discrimination. This is
important for various reasons, including that it will help cement these
interpretations under various other laws not directly amended by the
bill.
4)
Interestingly, the types of businesses considered to be public
accommodations would be expanded by the Equality Act, not only for
sexual orientation but also for the existing categories of race, color,
religion, and national origin. Additionally, the category of sex would
be added to the public accommodations section of the Civil Rights Act
for the first time, greatly advancing women's rights.
5)
In the same way the law protects people on the basis of their race and
religion, the Equality Act will make clear that discrimination because
someone is (or is perceived to be) LGBT, or is a parent, child, partner,
or otherwise associated with someone who is LGBT -- is also illegal.
6)
Whereas ENDA would have created a new law specific to LGBT people, the
Equality Act will add LGBT protections to existing civil rights laws
like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal
Credit Opportunity Act, and the Jury Selection and Service Act. It is
being done this way to ensure that LGBT people are protected equally
compared to other marginalized groups that are already protected.
7)
No special religious exemptions would apply for discrimination against
LGBT people. Amending existing civil rights laws means that the
religious exemptions that have been in place for 50 years will remain in
place. Mainly this means that religious institutions can continue to
prefer individuals of their own faith.
This
bill was written to address the real discrimination that LGBT people
face in real life -- discrimination that is often pervasive in the
workplace but goes far beyond it. And while a bill can always change as
it moves through the legislative process, we need to stake a claim and
introduce a bill that really is what we need. That is what the Equality
Act is.
Passing
the Equality Act will probably take time, and there are things you can
do to help. First, contact your Representative and your two U.S.
Senators and ask them to co-sponsor the Equality Act. Remember, support
for LGBT people is changing quickly, So even if your members of Congress
haven't supported LGBT equality in the past, contact them anyway --
their stance may be evolving.
Second,
we need to make sure Congress and the public understand that anti-LGBT
discrimination is very real -- which means we need your stories. Next
month, NCTE will launch the 2015 U.S. Trans Survey --
the biggest survey yet of trans people in the United States. This
survey, a follow-up to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey
conducted six years ago, will clearly make the case for the Equality Act
along with all of our other efforts to improve the lives of trans
people.
A
final word: We all know that getting any legislation through a very
polarized Congress is really hard right now. But we also know that the
transgender and LGBT movements are stronger and better connected than
ever. So, though we can't say that we see a clear pathway to pass the
Equality Act through the current Congress, we know that the politics of
LGBT equality are shifting in our favor. When the original Equality Act
was first introduced more than four decades ago, its passage may have
seemed to some like a pipe dream. Today, it is not. The promise of
Equality Act is still urgently needed. The question is how quickly we
can hasten its inevitable passage.
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