House poised to vote on legal safeguards for LGBTQ people

Late this afternoon The House voted 224 to 206 on legislation to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, an expansive effort that has spurred fierce opposition among conservatives over religious freedom and set off a new round of partisan fighting in Congress. The measure, known as the Equality Act, marks a major plank of what Democrats term their equality agenda, following earlier laws treating attacks against gay people as hate crimes and allowing gay people to serve openly in the military. The Equality Act would amend the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, religion, sex and other characteristics, to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
At a press conference after the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “It is needed because there is discrimination against people in the LGBTQ community. It breaks my heart that it is necessary.” The White House supports the legislation but its fate in the Senate is uncertain. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on Thursday declined to say when he would schedule the measure for a vote.
In a press conference with the Capitol as a backdrop and later on the House floor, Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus denounced the legislation, saying that it would discriminate against certain adoption agencies that don’t allow adoptions by same-sex parents, undermine women’s sports, and block healthcare providers from declining to perform abortions on the basis of their religious beliefs. Democrats say that arguments about protecting religious freedom are a fig leaf that provide cover to damaging practices.
Maryland’s Representative Jamie Raskin said on the floor “Every scoundrel in American history has tried to dress up his or her opposition to other people’s civil rights in religious garb.” New Yorks representative Sean Patrick Maloney added on the floor “Their real argument, the only honest argument, is that they believe LGBT people are morally inferior and that firing us should be permitted.” Republicans have criticized a provision of the act that would bar the use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 as a defense against discrimination claims. The Equality Act now faces a filibuster in the Senate. The historic fight continues.