Dems Roll Out Equality Act

Democrats on Tuesday are expected to reintroduce the Equality Act.

First introduced in 2015, the Equality Act seeks to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in seven key areas, including credit, education, employment, federal funding, housing, jury service and public accommodations, by effectively expanding the Civil Rights Act, originally approved in 1964.

According to the Washington Blade, Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley will reintroduce the legislation at a press conference scheduled for 11 AM in the Rayburn Room of the U.S. Capitol.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, said that the bill's reintroduction would include “bipartisan and unprecedented corporate support.”

“LGBTQ people face unfair and unjust discrimination just because of who they are, with few explicit legal protections in place,” said David Stacy, director of government affairs at HRC. “As lawmakers in states around the country target LGBTQ people for discrimination, it is even more critical that Congress pass a clear federal law to ensure LGBTQ people are fully protected by our nation’s civil rights laws.”

President Donald Trump has not said whether he supports the proposed legislation. Given his support for North Carolina's House Bill 2 – which blocked cities from enacting LGBT protections and prohibited transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice in many buildings – Trump's backing would seem unlikely.