Equality Act reintroduced by Democrats, praise LGBTQ+ community’s “incomparable strength”

House and Senate Democrats have once again introduced the Equality Act this morning, a piece of legislation aimed at incorporating LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections into the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This marks the sixth time the bill has been presented since 2015.

Democrats organised an almost hour-long press conference to reintroduce the bill. Among the speakers were openly gay Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), openly gay Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), openly gay Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

According to ‘LGBTQ Nation’, Merkley emphasised at the beginning of the press conference, “Freedom is the right to participate fully in every aspect of our national life. Freedom is the right to live as your authentic self without fear… Freedom is the right to be treated as equal with all other Americans.”

He further commented, “Since day one of this administration, our authoritarian president and his lackeys have been trying to erase and endanger LGBTQ+ Americans by greenlighting discrimination against the entire community in critical aspects of daily life… with particularly vicious attacks on transgender Americans.”

He insisted that “No one should be discriminated against because of who they are or whom they love. That is why we must pass the Equality Act.”

Rep. Takano expressed his “whole, complete, and total” faith in the constitution, highlighting that “we have seen and overcome darker times before.” He reminded the audience of the past difficulties in being open, stating that at one time, “our existence was [once] universally criminalized.”

He boldly stated, “We were born for this fight,” noting that LGBTQ+ people have inherited “grit, persistence, and incomparable strength” from their predecessors. “We will not stop until the Equality Act is the law of the land.”

Currently, the legislation faces slim chances of passing while Republicans maintain control of both Congress and the executive branch. The Human Rights Campaign issued a press release pointing out that recent surveys indicate over 75% of Americans back the act.

During his 2020 presidential bid, Joe Biden promised to sign the Equality Act within his first 100 days in office, which was one of the key commitments to the LGBTQ+ community. However, it did not come to fruition. Although the House of Representatives passed the bill, it was never considered in the Senate.

The Equality Act has been proposed in every Congress session since 2015, with its original version dating back to 1974. In 2019, the House of Representatives successfully passed the bill for the first time, yet the Senate, led by Republicans, refused to bring it to a vote.