House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced the Equality Act, a landmark civil rights bill that would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected classes.
The measure, which would amend a federal law that already outlaws discrimination based on race, religion, sex and national origin, faces an uphill battle in a Congress controlled by Republicans, who have long opposed it over concerns it would trample religious freedom rights.
President Trump opposed the Equality Act during his first term, citing “poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.” While exploring a presidential run as a Reform Party candidate back in 2000, Trump said he liked the idea of extending anti-discrimination protections in the 1964 Civil Rights Act to gay people.
“It’s only fair,” he told The Advocate then.
A White House spokesperson did not say whether Trump would support the bill this time, though it appears unlikely. Since taking office in January, Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders targeting transgender Americans, including one that proclaims the federal government recognizes only two sexes, male and female.
“Right now, the fear in our community is deep, and it is palpable,” Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the Equality Act’s primary sponsor in the House, said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon outside the Capitol.
“The waves of attacks on LGBTQI+ Americans have swept from state legislatures into the chambers of Congress and the White House. We’re facing the most anti-LGBTQI+ presidential administration in recent history, and for that reason, we demand that our existence be not just recognized but protected; we demand not just the right to survive but to thrive,” said Takano, who recently took over as chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which advocates for LGBTQ rights in Congress.
Most Americans support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, though that support has dipped slightly in recent years. A survey published last month by the Public Religion Research Institute, which has been tracking Americans’ support for LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections since 2015, found that 75 percent of adults support policies shielding LGBTQ Americans from discriminatory practices in housing, employment and public accommodation, down from its peak of 80 percent in 2022.
At the same time, Americans have grown more supportive of policies restricting transgender rights, a recent Pew Research Center survey found, including ones that require athletes to compete on sports teams that match their birth sex and prevent doctors from administering gender-affirming care to minors. In the same survey, 56 percent of adults expressed support for policies aimed at protecting trans people from discrimination in jobs, housing and public spaces.
“The bill that we’re here to talk about could not be more straightforward or commonsense,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the first openly gay person elected to the Senate, said Tuesday. “The Equality Act simply puts into law what we all believe: that every American is created equal and should be treated equally under the law. This is a tenant of our nation’s founding.”
In the absence of federal law, nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people vary by state, 27 of which lack explicit protections for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to Freedom for All Americans, which advocates for equal rights and protections.
“If you are gay, lesbian or transgender — and let that sink in — it’s a patchwork of rights and protections depending on who you are and who you love,” Baldwin said Tuesday. “Will you be protected from being discriminated against by a bad landlord when you try to rent a house? Depends on where you live. Will you be protected from being discriminated against when you are trying to get a mortgage or a new credit card? Again, it depends upon where you live.”
Democrats on Tuesday said they plan to have transparent one-on-one conversations with their Republican colleagues to garner bipartisan support for the bill, touting the strategy’s success in passing the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022. In that case, more than 50 Republicans in the House and Senate voted with Democrats to enshrine same-sex and interracial marriage rights in federal law.
