Chicago City Wire

On June 21, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), Vice-Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and founding member of the Transgender Equality Task Force, released the following statement on the reintroduction of the Equality Act in the House of Representatives:

“At a time when the assault on LGBTQI+ Americans by the far right grows more dangerous each day, the Equality Act is more important than ever.

“I have voted for the passage of the Equality Act twice before in the House of Representatives. I cast my vote proudly each time and lobbied tirelessly for its passage in the Senate. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have stood in the way of progress time and time again.

“We already know that extremists in the Republican caucus will not support this bill. But Speaker McCarthy has the opportunity to be on the right side of history by bringing this legislation to the floor and allowing a vote. I am confident that if he did, a bipartisan coalition would do the right thing.

“While we wait to see if the Speaker will heed his better angels, I will not let up in my fight for LGTBQI+ Americans. No matter your sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics, everyone deserves to live a life free from discrimination.”

Quigley is a co-sponsor of the Equality Act and a lifelong advocate for LGBTQI+ rights.

The Equality Act would amend existing civil rights laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination against LGBTQI+ people in:

• Employment
• Housing
• Public Accommodations
• Education
• Federally Funded Programs
• Credit
• Jury Service

It would also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in public accommodations and federally funded programs and expand the definition of public accommodations in the Civil Rights Act, strengthening protections not just on the basis of sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics), but also on the basis of race, color, national origin, and religion. 

Original source can be found here.