President Biden calls it “historic legislation.” Indeed it is. Biden is urging Congress to pass a new measure that would guarantee equal rights to members of the LGBTQ+ community. In a statement, Biden said:
Full equality has been denied to LGBTQ+ Americans and their families for far too long. Despite the extraordinary progress the LGBTQ+ community has made to secure their basic civil rights, discrimination is still rampant in many areas of our society. The Equality Act provides long overdue federal civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, locking in critical safeguards in our housing, education, public services, and lending systems — and codifying the courage and resilience of the LGBTQ+ movement into enduring law.
Congressman David Ciilline (D-RI), who was the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital, co-sponsored the bill. He wrote:
In 2021, every American should be treated with dignity and respect. After so many years of waiting for full LGBTQ equality, the time has come. #EqualityAct
AXIOS points out, “The bill, if passed, would expand laws including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to explicitly include protections for LBGTQ+ people. The measure has been introduced in Congress before but faced roadblocks from former Republican majorities.” It is expected to easily pass the house, but it would need all Democrats and 10 Republicans to vote yes in the Senate. It’s unclear whether there are enough Republicans on board.