Equality Act Passes Phase One

Today, the Equality Act has passed the House Judiciary Committee and is ready for a floor vote in the House of Representatives. The act, which would amend the Civil Rights Act to include specific and stricter protections for LGBTQ Americans, will face a floor vote for the first time in its 45 years of existence.

And . . . The #EqualityAct has been voted favorably out of Judiciary Committee and on to the full House. Thank you @davidcicilline and Chairman @JerryNadler for leadership from all of us at @TransEquality. The vote was party line —all democrats for, all Republican against 22-10 — Mara Keisling (@MaraKeisling) May 1, 2019

OUT FRONT reported on the Equality Act’s reintroduction to the House in March of this year. The Equality Act was first proposed in 1974, but all previous iterations of it did not survive committee hearings. The bill finally reaching the House floor is a testament to the gradual sea change that has occurred in America towards the acceptance and respect of LGBTQ people.

Since the bill passed the committee on a partisan vote, with 22 democrats in favor, 10 republicans opposed, if the House at large votes similarly to the committee, the Equality Act should have no issue passing the democratic majority body. However, the same cannot be said for a vote in the republican-majority Senate, and therefore the support mounting for LGBTQ equality could be halted by the entrenched Senate.