Statement of Administration Policy H.R. 5 – Equality Act

by Joseph Robinette Biden

February 23, 2021
(House Rules)

Statement of Administration Policy
H.R. 5 – Equality Act
(Rep. Cicilline, D-RI, and 224 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 5, the Equality Act, which would amend existing Federal civil rights laws to expressly include non-discrimination protection on the basis of sex, including gender identity and sexual orientation.

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals often continue to face discrimination, harassment, and violence at work, at school, and in public accommodations. H.R. 5 would amend existing Federal civil rights laws to expressly include non-discrimination protection on the basis of sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), providing security and equality to LGBTQ+ Americans in accessing housing, employment, education, public accommodations, healthcare and other federally funded services, credit, and more. The Supreme Court has already ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County, No. 17-1618, 590 U.S. (2020), that employees are protected from discrimination on the basis of sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equality Act confirms the implications of Bostock for other discrimination laws, consistent with the President’s Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation, issued January 20, 2021, and further builds on Bostock, thereby securing such protections once and for all for LGBTQ+ Americans across Federal civil rights laws. Women also currently lack protection against sex discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs; the Equality Act would fill that gap in the law as well.

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