Culture

House Passes Equality Act, Landmark LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Bill Headed to Senate


In response to these incidents, openly gay Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), co-chair of the LGBTQ Equality Caucus, responded during his floor speech on today’s Equality Act vote. “Is that where we are here today?” Pocan asked, citing members of Congress who will “say and do anything to score points… to just get social media clickbait.”

Capitol Building in Washington, DC

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Pocan went onto say that 1 in 4 transgender people have lost a job due to discrimination, while dozens of trans and gender non-conforming people were violently killed last year. LGBTQ+ youth are almost five times as likely to attempt suicide.

“It’s past time we put an end to this,” Pocan said. “A vote against the Equality Act is a vote for discrimination plain and simple.”

Now that the legislation has passed the House, all eyes will be on the Senate, where the bill’s fate is less clear. Passing with a filibuster-proof majority would require 60 votes, meaning that 10 Republicans would need to vote with the Democrats in a chamber that is evenly divided along partisan lines.

Adding further hurdles to its passage, several Republicans who had previously expressed support for the Equality Act — including Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — have recently signaled opposition to the bill.

Despite the challenges that lie ahead, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups applauded the House for standing up for equality once more. “This is a defining moment in our nation’s political history and soon U.S. senators will decide their legacy on equality for LGBTQ people,” said Annise Parker, president and CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute, in a statement.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, added that Wednesday’s vote brings America one step closer to “ensuring that every person is treated equally under the law.”

“The Equality Act has broad support from 70% of voters, hundreds of elected officials nationwide and an unprecedented number of businesses who believe that not only is achieving equality the right thing to do, it is a unifying issue for our nation,” he said in a statement. “[…] Now, the ball is in the Senate’s court to pass the Equality Act and finally allow LGBTQ Americans the ability to live their lives free from discrimination.”

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