Washington, D.C. – Today 46 Senators, including Senators Carper and Coons (both D-Del) re-introduced historic, comprehensive federal legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT Americans. The legislation was filed simultaneously in the U.S. House of Representatives by 194 Representatives.
“One of my core values, whose power I am reminded of time and time again, is the Golden Rule. I believe we have a moral obligation to treat others the way we would want to be treated,” said Sen. Carper. “The Equality Act is about the Golden Rule, ensuring that all Americans—regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity—have equal protection under the law from unfair discrimination. I’m proud to cosponsor this historic bill, and I’ll keep working with my colleagues in Congress to coalesce the strong bipartisan support it needs to become law of the land.”
“Fair and equal treatment for all includes sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Sen. Coons. “Re-introducing this act is a critical step toward ending discrimination in the workplace. By expanding protections for employees you are helping to ensure that all Americans get an equal opportunity to succeed ensuring companies use fair employment practices.”
Despite major advances in equality for LGBT Americans, including nationwide marriage equality, the majority of states still do not have explicit LGBT non-discrimination protection laws. The Equality Act of 2017 would ensure full federal non-discrimination equality by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to other protected classes, such as race or religion, in existing federal laws.
The bill would explicitly ban discrimination in a host of areas, including employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, access to credit, and federal funding.
The bill would also add protections against sex discrimination in parts of anti-discrimination laws where these protections had not been included previously, including in public accommodations and federal funding.
In addition to Carper and Coons, the legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full text of the Equality Act of 2017 is available here.