LGBTQ Rights Bill Passes House, Moves to Senate

On February 25, 2021, the House approved the Equality Act, sending it to the Senate for approval, in a 224-206 vote.  Previously, a substantially similar bill passed the House in 2019, but at the time, the Republican-led Senate blocked the legislation.  Like its predecessor, the bill would amend existing civil rights law – including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal law – by explicitly including sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics in employment, housing, public accommodation, public education, federal funded programs, credit, and the jury system.  The Equality Act seeks to expand the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia which extended protections under Title VII to gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination.

Now, Democrats control the White House, House, and the Senate, but passing the bill in the Senate remains an uphill battle, requiring 60 out of 100 votes to break a legislative filibuster.  The bill is a top priority for President Joe Biden who called it “a critical step towards ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.”  Critics of the bill, including religious denominations and Republican opponents, argue that the bill raises serious concerns about religious freedoms, freedom of expression, freedom of association, as well as women’s sports.  Specifically, opponents fear religious communities will be forced to violate their religious beliefs and women will be forced to share bathrooms with transgender women if the bill is passed. 

However, according to a 2020 Public Religion Research Institute American Values Survey, more than 8 in 10 Americans favor laws that protect members of the LGBTQ community against discrimination in employment, housing, and in public accommodations.  Over 21 States have already passed legislation that protects, to some degree, LGBTQ individuals from discrimination in employment, public accommodations, housing, or other areas, but gaps nonetheless remain in some of those States’ efforts.  In 27 other States, a person can still be denied housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; 31 States allow individuals to be denied access to education; and in 41 States, individuals can be denied the right to serve on a jury. 

Individuals who believe they have received unequal access in the workplace, places of public accommodation, housing operated by the government, schools, or transportation facilities should contact a lawyer.