US House passes Equality Act

[Morphine Prince 88,287]

In a victory for LGBTQ rights, the House passed the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, on February 24.

All House Democrats and three House Republicans — Reps. John Katko (NY), Tom Reed (NY), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) — joined together to pass the bill, 224-206. Now, the legislation moves to the Senate, where it faces tougher opposition because it will need all 50 Democrats plus 10 Republican senators to pass it. The bill, which has been introduced four times in its current form but has existed since 1974, passed the House in 2019 but was blocked by the then-Republican-controlled Senate. 

The Equality Act would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to explicitly enumerate LGBTQ+ Americans as a class protected from discrimination. While the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton last year that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity was unconstitutional under the “sex” provision in the Civil Rights Act — thereby extending protections in housing, education, and employment to LGBTQ people — the Equality Act would go further, banning discrimination for all federally funded programs and “public accommodations,” like stores, stadiums, rental establishments, and hotels.

That last feature has been a sticking point for religious groups because it would prohibit businesses from claiming religious freedom to deny service to LGBTQ+ Americans, in turn explicitly superseding 1993’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. To use a famous example, a bakery would no longer be able to deny its wedding cake services to a same-sex couple based on the owners’ religion if the Equality Act were passed. 

LGBTQ groups lauded the bill’s passage in the House, noting the Equality Act was the culmination of decades of work from LGBTQ activists.

Source: https://www.vox.com/2021/2/26/22303053/house-passes-equality-act-lgbtq-senate

 

[Morphine Prince 88,287]

Didn't see a thread about this, unless I missed it! But I thought it was worth making a thread over even if it happened 5 days ago!

[elijahfan 17,724]

Imagine being against this...

[Reality 55,988]

18 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

224-206

The fact that it was this close is sad, but not surprising. 

[PartySick 62,999]

2 hours ago, Reality said:

The fact that it was this close is sad, but not surprising. 

The GOP is trash so

Literally most Americans support equality. Even most Republican voters support it. But they vote against it for no reason.

[Aubbie 817]

Are we just waiting on the senate now?

[bionic 19,120]

We need an EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT now

[Luke78619 19,018]

The US didn’t have this?  wtf 

[Lion Heart 14,693]

>50 + 10 needed

So its not passing then.