Equality Act (United States)

The Equality Act is a bill in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate that if passed would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and the jury system. It was reintroduced in the 115th United States Congress on May 2, 2017.[1]

Content

The Equality Act updates the definitions of 3 terms:[2]

The Equality Act expands the categories of "public accommodations" to include places or establishments that provide[2]:

The Equality Act prohibits "establishment" from being construed to be limited to a physical facility or place.[2]

History

The Equality Act was developed by Democratic Representative to New York Bella Abzug with the help of Ed Koch (D-NY) in 1974. The Equality Act of 1974 sought to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include prohibitions on the discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and marital status. The Bill defined sexual orientation as "choice of sexual partner according to gender." On June 27, 1974, the Bill was Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary, where it died.[3]

114th Congress

H.R. 3185

On July 23, 2015, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced the Equality Act of 2015 in the House of Representatives.

In January 2016, Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL) became the first Republican Representative to co-sponsor the bill.[4]

S. 1858

On July 23, 2015, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Equality Act of 2015 in the United States Senate.

In January 2016, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) became the first Republican Senator to co-sponsor the bill.

Support

The Equality Act of 2015 has received support from Apple Inc.,[5] Dow Chemical Company,[5] Human Rights Campaign,[5] Levi Strauss & Co.,[5] American Airlines,[6] Facebook,[6] General Mills,[6] Google,[6] and Nike.[6]

On November 10, 2015, President Barack Obama officially announced his support for the Equality Act.[7]

Both main Democratic presidential candidates for 2016, namely Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, support the Equality Act.[8]

Legislative history

Congress Short title Bill number(s) Date introduced Sponsor(s) # of cosponsors Latest status
114th Congress Equality Act of 2015 H.R. 3185 July 23, 2015 David Cicilline
(D-RI)		 178 Died in committee
S. 1858 July 23, 2015 Jeff Merkley
(D-OR)		 42 Died in committee
115th Congress Equality Act of 2017 H.R. 2282 May 2, 2017 David Cicilline
(D-RI)		 196 Referred to committee
S. 1006 May 2, 2017 Jeff Merkley
(D-OR)		 45 Referred to committee

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Equality Act Reintroduced in Congress with Unprecedented Corporate Support". The Rainbow Times. May 2, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "H.R.3185 - Equality Act". US Congress. July 23, 2015.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ↑ "Congress - Equality Act". WhiteHouse.gov. 2017.
  4. ↑ "Bob Dold of Illinois Is First Republican Cosponsor of Equality Act". The Advocate. January 15, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Major Corporations Announce Support for Landmark Federal LGBT Non-Discrimination Legislation
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Momentum Builds: Corporate Giants Announce Support for Federal LGBT Non-Discrimination Protections
  7. ↑ Obama supports altering Civil Rights Act to ban LGBT discrimination
  8. ↑ "Hillary Clinton: The Equality Act Must Be 'Highest Priority'". The Advocate. October 18, 2015.

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