House Passes the Equality Act

Today the U.S. House of Representatives, in a vote of 224-206, passed the Equality Act. Introduced by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, and co-sponsored by 224 members of the House, this landmark bill would uphold protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity under federal law.

The Equality Act would also extend protections for people of color, immigrants, women, and people with disabilities. The bill aims to achieve this by creating federally mandated standards in order to ensure these groups have access to places and providers of public accommodation. The Equality Act would ban discrimination from the grocery store to a baseball game, from rideshares to dating apps.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was a critical step in the civil rights movement and helped shape our current culture, as well as led to much-needed changes in society. However, people of color are still not protected against discrimination on the basis of race by all privately owned businesses.  A study in the Journal of Planning Education and Research demonstrated that as recently as 2019, Black passengers using ride-hailing services such as Uber, Lyft, taxi, etc., regularly experienced trip cancellation and longer wait times than white riders.

The Equality Act would update current legislation for the needs of Americans today. In addition to adding protections based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, it enumerates what “public accommodation” includes and expands the definition of where discrimination is unlawful. This includes transportation, health care, banking, entertainment, legal services, accounting, shelters and food banks, gyms, travel agencies, salons, and even funeral services.

“No person should ever feel unsafe, be fired from their job, or denied goods and services simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Here in Colorado, we went from the hate state to the great state by passing comprehensive legislation to ensure LGBTQ Coloradans’ civil rights are protected like everyone else, and it is past time for the federal government to catch up,” said Morgan Carroll, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, and co-sponsor of the Equality Act.

“I am so proud of our Colorado Democrats in the U.S. House who passed the Equality Act today, and I look forward to the Democratic-led U.S. Senate to passing it as well so President Biden can sign it into law. It’s time,” Carroll concluded.

The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, which is spilt 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as a tie-breaker. It would need at least 10 Republicans to vote with all Democrats to advance the bill past a key procedural obstacle called the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would use his powers to put the bill on the floor, but declined to say when he would bring the legislation up in the Senate.