House votes to pass Equality Act, sweeping legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity https://t.co/oASHSzm7gt
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 25, 2021
A possible explanation for MTG’s latest outbreak of public bigotry. Gonna be interesting, shall we say, for Sen. Krysten Sinema to reconcile her support for LGBTQ rights with her defense of the filibuster here…
The House voted Thursday to pass the Equality Act, a far-reaching measure that has been decades in the making and would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The legislation was passed by the House in 2019 but blocked in the Republican-led Senate. This time, Democrats control the White House, House and Senate. President Biden has signaled his support for the measure, but it still faces an uphill fight in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a legislative filibuster.
“The Civil Rights Act is a sacred pillar of freedom in our country. It is not amended lightly,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a House floor speech Thursday afternoon. She thanked members of the Congressional Black Caucus who “gave their imprimatur to the opening of the Civil Rights Act to end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.”
After a tense and often personal debate, the House voted 224 to 206 for the measure, with three Republicans joining all Democrats to vote yes…
The Equality Act has been a pillar of the LGBTQ civil rights movement since similar legislation was first discussed after the Stonewall riots in 1969. Democratic Rep. Bella Abzug of New York was the main sponsor of the Equality Act in 1974; other prominent supporters of the legislation included Rep. Ed Koch (D-N.Y.).
In the ensuing decades, public opinion has shifted dramatically toward support of such protections. More than 8 in 10 Americans favor laws that would protect LGBTQ people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing, according to a 2020 Public Religion Research Institute American Values Survey…
(Rep. Abzug, along with Rep. Shirley Chisholm, was my adolescent legislative hero. I’m glad she gets the credit she earned here.)
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