On Thursday, February 25th, with a vote of 224 to 206, the House of Representatives again passed the Equality Act, a piece of legislation aiming to ensure the end of discriminatory laws against Americans based upon gender identity and sexual orientation. Propelled by the Biden-Harris administration and Congressional Democrats, it would “ensure protections for LGBTQ Americans in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service and other areas.” However, though perhaps unsurprisingly, this bill “was passed almost entirely on party lines,” totaling in “the support of all Democrats and just three Republicans.” While Democrats argue for this “explicit inclusion of basic, broadly accepted tenets of the Civil Rights Act,” many Republicans cite “infringe[ment] on the religious beliefs of individuals,” as well as a “violat[ion] of women’s right to privacy and safety in [women’s sports].” In the words of Republican Representative Randy Weber of Texas, many Republicans view the bill as “anti-life, anti family, [and] anti-faith.”
But this is nothing new. In 2019, under the Trump administration, the bill had also passed in the House, but a then Republican-led Senate “refused to hold a vote.” Now, with a Democrat-led House, Senate and White House, the opportunity to pass this legislation appears more open and significant than ever. As the bill has moved on to the Senate, a member of the Human Rights Campaign organization commented on the division between parties in this initial House vote, highlighting a need for “[a] substantial amount of education and outreach to members of the Senate that are operating under, in some instances, fear and misinformation.”
This video displays a press conference held by Democratic leaders in an effort to articulate their perspectives on the bill. It's a bit long, so I recommend pausing around 3:54, or listening for about another minute or two to hear a summarized explanation of the history of the bill.
Dating back to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, an incident that helped fuel the creation of LGBTQ activist groups, the history behind the Equality Act is one that increasingly demonstrates a strong "shift in public opinion" towards support of LGBTQ rights. In a 2020 Public Religion Research Institute survey,“more than eight in ten Americans (83%) favor[ed] laws that would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing, compared to only 16% of Americans who oppos[ed] such laws.” The Equality Act both expands and incorporates upon the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, adding “federally funded programs and public accommodations” to the areas of discrimination deemed unconstitutional. Across the nation, businesses would be prohibited from denying services to consumers solely due to their gender identity and sexual orientation, in addition to past explicitly stated factors, such as religion and race. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) similarly pursues the extension of sexual orientation and gender identity to laws of discrimination in the workplace, also under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
President Biden continues to reiterate the passage of this bill as a “policy priority,” emphasizing that "every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and [that] this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.” However, with 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster in the evenly split Senate, it seems the early turmoil in the House could signal further division and conflict.
CBS on "House passes Equality Act..."
NYT on "House Passes Sweeping.."
NPR on "Here's What It Would Do..."
Washington Post on "House votes to pass..."
6 comments:
It still comes as a surprise to me that such a fundamental bill as the Equality Act has still not passed since its inception in 1974. Although America is a country built on the foundation of basic equal rights for all of its citizens, a fundamental act that guarantees the preservation and protection of the basic rights of every American is still up for debate decades after it’s proposal. However, the Equality Act passing in the house is a step in the right direction. Even though Republicans are continuing to vote along party lines, perhaps, with the current trifecta Democrats find themselves in, this act could finally be passed in the senate, which it failed to do so under Trump's presidency. A connection that I remembered that related to this situation was the reasoning behind the votes against the Equality Act from conservatives. Back when the act was first introduced, many feared that such an act that guaranteed these protections ranging from education all the way to housing would interfere with American family traditions that have existed for decades. This seems to be the same reasoning for the Republicans in our time who continue to vote against the bill. With the time that has passed, social progress that has occurred and acceptance that has been cemented, our society cannot look, act and be structured like how it was years ago. With time comes necessary change that must be embraced which this act will strive to accomplish.
It almost amazes me that the US is still struggling to provide legislative protection of equality among citizens, considering that it is one of the main ideals upon which the country was built. It seems surprising that an act so aptly named "the Equality Act" is only now passing in the house, which is definitely fortunate and a good thing, but also concerning that it has taken this long. The US has a history of using the vague text of the Constitution to justify discrimination among minorities or other social groups, and then correcting it later (i.e. the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Rights Amendment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, etc.). It seems silly that Congress has to come to these conclusions one by one, but I suppose members of Congress are hard to replace, and so lots of old folks with more conservative ideals end up making the decisions. Hopefully we can strive to achieve total social equality sometime in the future, but for now this is a step in the right direction.
Though the message of equality is appealing, there are many things within the bill that are more morally questionable than is let on. Some examples include allowing men who identify as female into their preferred locker room, restroom, etc. which is not exactly something 84% of Americans would necessarily agree with. The bill would also require females to compete against biological males who identify as female in sports, which could have unintended consequences due to clear biological differences between the two no matter how much one tries to change their body. It also forces health professionals to provide transition surgeries even if it goes against their judgement as to whether a patient should actually receive such a thing because refusing such a procedure would be considered discrimination. This bill is more controversial than one would think it is, and opposition to the bill is not as simple as old people wanting to discriminate.
I agree with both Laurent and Nathan on their points covering this Equality Act. I, too, was surprised on how long this Act has taken to even reach Congress and how not act covering this topic, or related ones have passed since 1974. I also see where Barry is coming from, with his concerns on some of the subparts of the bill. His comment I think is connected to the way many conservative new outlets are framing these subparts which are clearly biased and meant to raise anti-LGBT protection sentiment. The Freedom for All Americans website( https://freedomforallamericans.org/mythbuster-the-equality-act/) does a great job explaining the facts behind these "myths" that are being spread around. The Equality Act is there to ensure equality for all people, and that is what should be the focus, not these "what if" scenarios. While it would be great to see the Equality Act pass quickly through the Senate, I predict as Kaitlyn stated in her original post that the filibuster will likely be enacted. Nonetheless, hopefully this monumental Equality Act will ultimately be passed by the Senate!
I agree with all the previous points by other commenters mentioning that the struggle with passing the Equality Act shouldn't be as much of an issues as it currently appears to be. I think that part of this pushback against equal rights and support programs for LGBT+ people came with the conservative resurgence and resistance during the Obama presidency, and the increase in support of those conservative beliefs under Trump. The filibuster likely poses a lot of threat still to this legislation, and I am concerned that it will prevent this legislation from being passed yet again, even though it is necessary for the equality of a very marginalized group of individuals. Nevertheless, the filibuster will likely be enacted, and with that we would need at least 10 Republican votes in the senate in order to pass this legislation, which sadly does not seem to be likely as they are holding firm to their beliefs. Thank you sharing!
I agree with all the other comments, as the fact that it took almost 50 years pretty surprising. Having the bill pass in the House is a big step, considering the amount of conservatives that dont believe the same rights should be available for everyone. However, it shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is, as again, equality among all citizens should have been a basic human write for almost 5 decades. Even though it sucks that it is taking a long time to make it to equality, I suppose its a case of "better late than never" where at least they are starting to make the changes.
Post a Comment