Tag: The Equality Act

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Joe Biden: Passing The Equality Act Will Be Top Priority As President

Speaking at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Columbus, Ohio, former Vice President Joe Biden promised to make LGBTQ equality a priority.

Speaking at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Columbus, Ohio, former Vice President Joe Biden promised to make LGBTQ equality a priority.

In a wide-ranging speech, the 2020 presidential candidate called out the Trump administration as a “disaster for human rights,” pointing out many of its ongoing attacks on the rights and protections of LGBTQ Americans.

Biden also denounced current vice current Vice President Mike Pence for using religious freedom as a license to discriminate against LGBTQ folks.

“Just like with racial justice and women’s rights, we are seeing pushback against all the progress we’ve made toward equality,” said Biden as he discussed protections for transgender Americans. “It’s wrong and it is immoral what they’re doing.”

Biden announced during the half hour speech that signing the Equality Act would be his top legislative priority. “It will be the first thing I ask to be done,” Biden said.

In a lighthearted moment, Biden recalled announcing his support for marriage equality in 2012 before President Obama had done so.

Biden remembered many political pundits thinking, “I had just committed this gigantic blunder.” He also shared that he’d told the president if asked about same-sex marriage, “I was not going to be quiet.”

It’s a great speech – well worth the watching.

In advance of his HRC speech, Biden tweeted out his support for Pride Month:

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Taylor Swift Urges Federal Government To Pass Equality Act

International pop star Taylor Swift shared a message of support for the LGBTQ community to her 200 million social media followers just minutes into the first day of Pride Month 2019.
Taylor Swift (image via Instagram)

International pop star Taylor Swift shared a message of support for the LGBTQ community to her 200 million social media followers just minutes into the first day of Pride Month 2019.

Not only does Taylor wish us all a Happy Pride Month, but she’s launched a petition on Change.org demanding the federal government enact The Equality Act.

Here’s the text of her petition:

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! While we have so much to celebrate, we also have a great distance to go before everyone in this country is truly treated equally. In excellent recent news, the House has passed the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations. The next step is that the bill will go before the Senate.

While there’s no information yet as to when the Equality Act will go before the Senate for a vote, we do know this: Politicians need votes to stay in office. Votes come from the people. Pressure from massive amounts of people is a major way to push politicians towards positive change. That’s why I’ve created this petition to urge the Senate to support the Equality Act.

Our country’s lack of protection for its own citizens ensures that LGBTQ people must live in fear that their lives could be turned upside down by an employer or landlord who is homophobic or transphobic. The fact that, legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others is disgusting and unacceptable.

Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally.

I love that Taylor is using her social media powers for good, and hope you will, too.

Please make sure you head to the petition (over 68,000 signatures at this time) and sign it as well.

You know I did 🙂

🌈HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!🌈 While we have so much to celebrate, we also have a great distance to go before everyone in this country is truly treated equally. In excellent recent news, the House has passed the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations. The next step is that the bill will go before the Senate. I’ve decided to kick off Pride Month by writing a letter to one of my senators to explain how strongly I feel that the Equality Act should be passed. I urge you to write to your senators too. I’ll be looking for your letters by searching the hashtag #lettertomysenator. While there’s no information yet as to when the Equality Act will go before the Senate for a vote, we do know this: Politicians need votes to stay in office. Votes come from the people. Pressure from massive amounts of people is a major way to push politicians towards positive change. That’s why I’ve created a petition at change.org to urge the Senate to support the Equality Act. Our country’s lack of protection for its own citizens ensures that LGBTQ people must live in fear that their lives could be turned upside down by an employer or landlord who is homophobic or transphobic. The fact that, legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others is disgusting and unacceptable. Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally. 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈 Click the link in my bio to sign the petition for Senate support of the Equality Act.
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on May 31, 2019 at 9:05pm PDT

The Grammy Award winner also shared her letter to her state’s senator, Sen. Lamar Alexander, asking for his support for The Equality Act.

Along the way, she also brings up Tennessee’s recent anti-LGBTQ ‘Slate of Hate’ bills in the state legislature, and rejects Donald Trump’s position on The Equality Act.

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Equality Act Passes In The House By Vote Of 236-173

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, a critically important piece of federal legislation that would, for the first time, explicitly add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to existing civil rights laws.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, a critically important piece of federal legislation that would, for the first time, explicitly add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to existing civil rights laws.

Today’s vote of 236-173 in the House included 8 Republicans joining 228 Democrats to vote in favor of the legislation.

If signed into law, the Equality Act would update the existing Civil Rights Act of 1964 by ushering in across-the-board protections for Americans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This includes protections in employment, housing, credit, education, and public accommodations would be guaranteed for LGBTQ Americans under this law.

Currently, LGBTQ Americans receive zero non-discrimination protections in 26 states.

Openly gay Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney had the honor of gaveling in the results of the vote.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke movingly from the floor of the House in support of the legislation:

LGBTQ advocacy groups celebrated the news.

Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD:

“LGBTQ Americans are one step closer to being protected by federal law instead of living in a country where hard-working Americans in a majority of states can be fired from their jobs, denied housing opportunities, and turned away from other critical services – including access to health care – simply for being who they are. Fairness should never be a partisan political issue, and the Senate should pass this bill without delay.”

Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign:

“Today’s historic vote is a major milestone for equality and sends a powerful and profound message to LGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ youth, that the U.S. House has their backs. No one’s rights should depend on which side of a state or city line they live on, and today we took a giant step forward in our journey toward full equality. This historic victory would not have been possible without the millions of LGBTQ people and our allies who organized, mobilized and turned out to elect a pro-equality majority in 2018. Now, we will take our fight to the U.S. Senate and turn up the pressure on Leader McConnell to allow a vote on this crucial legislation. And we won’t slow down in working to turn out the 10 million eligible LGBTQ voters and our millions more allies to elect a pro-equality president in 2020 who will sign the Equality Act into law.”

Brian K. Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National:

“PFLAGers across the country thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) for their leadership in introducing the Equality Act, and the many Representatives from across the country who today cast their historic votes in favor of equality, fairness, and safety. PFLAG families want for their LGBTQ+ loved ones the same things that all families want: job security, a home, a family, and unfettered access to healthcare and other crucial services. PFLAG families have been fighting for over four decades for these protections and equal rights as promised by the U.S. Constitution, and now they are ever closer to achieving that promise.”

Sam Brinton, Head of Advocacy & Government Affairs, The Trevor Project:

“LGBTQ youth deserve every equal right and protection as their peers, no matter where in this great nation they live. Today’s passage of the Equality Act is a monumental step toward bringing about those equal rights and protections. As we look toward the Senate and the eventual passage of landmark pieces of legislation like this, LGBTQ youth should know that the fight for their equality is moving swiftly forward toward a world where they will be free to be themselves.”

The House vote on The Equality Act comes at a time when the most anti-LGBTQ administration in recent memory has attacked LGBTQ people at every turn.

As historic as the moment is today, reality will – sadly – come crashing down as its certain Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) will not let the legislation come to a vote in the US Senate.

Even the Equality Act were to get a vote and pass in the upper chamber, Donald Trump would veto the bill. A senior White House official recently told the Washington Blade that Trump opposes the bill. And his base of far-right evangelicals would scream bloody murder if he signed it into law.

Since taking office in January 2017, the Trump/Pence administration has unleashed more than 106 attacks against LGBTQ Americans in policy and rhetoric. A comprehensive list of those attacks can be found on GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project (TAP) by going to www.glaad.org/trump.

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News Round-Up: May 15, 2019

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Guoyang510 (above) is looking forward to summer, just like I am. Who’s with us???

• Rep. Daniel Lipinski (Ill.), the only House Democrat not to co-sponsor the Equality Act, has announced he will now vote for the legislation. The House is expected to vote on the bill this Friday. Maybe that threat of a primary challenge moved the needle?

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and beleaguered Attorney General William Barr bump into each other at an event. Barr jokes about handcuffs, Pelosi goes one better…

• A reader wrote in to Slate’s sex advice column, How To Do It, asking how to handle an office situation when folks realize their new coworker (currently married to a woman) used to do gay porn? I’m not sure what the problem is, but I was curious about the columnist’s response.

• US News ranked the 50 states according to several metrics including health care, education, economy, roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, its public safety, the fiscal stability of state government, and the opportunity it affords its residents. Click to see where your state lands on the list.

• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of Senate GOP leadership, said Wednesday that the chamber is unlikely to vote on any election security legislation, despite requests from a federal agency for more funding to improve election systems nationwide.

• Long-running animated series Family Guy hysterically went after Fox News host Sean Hannity. “High sodium Superman” was maybe my favorite description… LOL

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Shocker: Donald Trump Opposes The Equality Act

Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade reports that Donald Trump will oppose the Equality Act, set for a vote in the full House of Representatives this Friday.
Donald Trump

Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade reports that Donald Trump will oppose the Equality Act, set for a vote in the full House of Representatives this Friday.

With a vote on the Equality Act in the U.S. House expected on Friday, a senior administration official indicated exclusively to the Washington Blade that President Trump opposes the bill.

“The Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, this bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights,” the senior administration official said via email.

More details about Trump’s position on the Equality Act may come soon from the White House, which traditionally issues a Statement of Administration Policy when legislation comes to the floor of either chamber of Congress.

The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to ban anti-LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs and credit.

During the 2016 presidential election, Trump laughingly promised to be “better for the gays” than Hillary Clinton.

The Blade also harkens back to an interview with The Advocate in 2000, when Trump was considering a third party run for the White House, where he said he supported amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation.

Let’s face it – no one expected Trump to support the Equality Act. And fortunately for him, the U.S. Senate will protect him from having to veto the legislation since it will never get a vote in the Senate.

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Equality Act Approved By House Judiciary Committee Along Party Line Vote 22-10

The Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has been approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Although the legislation had been introduced in the House twice before, this is the first time Democrats have been able to see the bill move out of committee and on to the full House.

Even though recent polling shows nearly seven in ten (69%) of Americans support the measure, the vote was a straight party-line affair. All 22 Democrats on the committee voted yes, while all 10 Republicans voted no.

Should The Equality Act be passed into law, it would prohibit LGBTQ-based discrimination in areas like housing, employment, public accommodations and more on a nationwide level.

Currently, you can be fired from your job in 30 states for being gay.

In addition to the strong support by Democratic lawmakers, The Equality Act has been endorsed by 165 major businesses and 288 statewide and national organizations.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in his opening statement, ‘It is time that the federal government recognizes that discrimination in any form is wrong and that we should move forward with these common-sense protections that simply build on existing statutes.’

The measure now heads to a vote by the full House, which could happen as soon as next week.

With 240 co-sponsors in the House, and strenuous support by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the legislation is expected to easily pass.

However, the odds don’t look so good for the bill in the Republican-led Senate where Senate Leader Mitch McConnell probably won’t even allow the legislation to come up for a vote.

And, while Donald Trump campaigned saying he would be ‘better for the gays’ than Hillary Clinton, since he took office his administration has waged a war against LGBTQ rights. His evangelical base would probably rise up were he to sign the bill into law.

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Record Number Of House Members Join LGBT Equality Caucus

With The Equality Act set to be re-introduced in Congress on Wednesday, the House LGBT Equality Caucus boasts a record 155 members in the 116th Congress.

With The Equality Act set to be re-introduced in Congress on Wednesday, the House LGBT Equality Caucus boasts a record number of members in the 116th Congress.

There are currently 8 openly LGBT Co-Chairs, 18 Vice Chairs and a total of 155 Democratic members in the caucus.

No Republicans chose to be involved in the group.

“Fairness and equality are core American values. Unfortunately, as he has shown again and again, the President does not share these ideals. That’s why it’s more important than ever that Members of Congress stand up for the rights of the LGBT community,” said LGBT Equality Caucus Co-Chair Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01) in a press statement.

“As I prepare to re-introduce the Equality Act, I am delighted that so many of my House colleagues – the largest number on record, in fact – are committed to fighting for full LGBT equality as members of this important caucus,” he added.

The Equality Act would amend existing civil rights laws (which include the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Jury Selection and Services Act) to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics.

Currently only 20 states and Washington D.C. have specific laws to protect LGBTs from discrimination.

The Equality Act would provide uniform protects across the entire U.S.

The Hill reports the legislation is expected to have the support of over 230 representatives in the House and 46 members of the Senate when introduced on Wednesday by Rep. Cicilline and Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon in their respective chambers.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has previously announced the Equality Act would be a priority in the House, and with such strong support, passage there looks likely.

But the legislation has been introduced twice before – in 2015 and 2017 – and stalled each time due to the Republican majority in the Senate.

Political pundits believe it will take a Democratic majority in the Senate and a Democrat in the White House for the Equality Act to finally become law.

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Nancy Pelosi Names The Equality Act As A Top Priority In New Congress

As Nancy Pelosi returned to her position as Speaker of the House yesterday, she made a point of saying passage of The Equality Act will be a priority in the upcoming Congress.
(image via office of the Speaker of the House)

As Nancy Pelosi returned to her position as Speaker of the House yesterday, she made a point of saying passage of The Equality Act will be a priority in the upcoming Congress.

The legislation, which has already been introduced in the House before, would outlaw LGBTQ discrimination on a federal level.

“We will make America fairer by passing the Equality Act to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community,” Pelosi said in remarks as she was reelected to Speaker.

I’m always grateful to see LGBTQ legislation brought up, and the Equality Act does stand a good chance of being passed in the House with the newly-installed Democratic majority.

But with the Senate in Republican-control and Donald Trump in the White House, I’m not counting on the legislation becoming law any time soon, unfortunately.

The Human Rights Campaign estimates nearly 50% of LGBTQ Americans live in one of 30 states with no legal protections whatsoever, and could lose their job, be evicted or denied public services based on their sexuality or gender identity.

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Podcast: Trump Looks To Redefine Trans Americans Out Of Existence; RuPaul Wants You To Sissy That Vote!

In this week’s Randy Report podcast:

• The Trump administration is proposing a new, narrow definition of gender that would virtually erase transgender Americans out of existence

• Nancy Pelosi says The Equality Act would be a high priority for a Democratically controlled House of Representatives

• Trump voters believe straight men face more discrimination than gays

• And RuPaul wants to make sure you sissy that vote!

All that and more on this episode of The Randy Report.

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Nancy Pelosi Vows To Make The Equality Act A Priority

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA-D)

Should the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives after the midterm elections, probable Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says passing the long-overdue Equality Act would be a high priority.

From Chris Johnson at The Washington Blade:

Speaking at an event Tuesday at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Pelosi identified the Equality Act as a personal goal in wide-ranging remarks about her plans for the next Congress.

“It isn’t in our ‘For The People’ agenda because it doesn’t get that specific, but there’s one more because it’s personal for me that I really want to do, and it’s called the Equality Act,” Pelosi said. “The Equality Act expands ending discrimination against LGBTQ people and women and adding that to the Civil Rights Act.”

Introduced by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) in the House and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in the Senate, the Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to ban anti-LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs and credit.

The bill also seeks to update federal law to include sex in the list of protected classes in public accommodation in addition to expanding the definition of public accommodations to include retail stores, banks, transportation services and health care services.

Further, the Equality Act would establish that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — a 1994 law aimed at protecting religious liberty — can’t be used to enable anti-LGBT discrimination.