WASHINGTON, D.C. — Family Equality Council joins with LGBTQ+ community members nationwide to celebrate the historic passage of the Equality Act in the U.S. House of Representatives today. 236 members of Congress voted in favor of HR5, including 228 Democrats and 8 Republicans. The Equality Act is a comprehensive bill that will add LGBTQ people to existing civil rights laws and strengthening protections for all people — including women, religious minorities, and people of color — providing clear, consistent protections nationwide in employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service.
“Today our members of Congress took a historic first step toward enshrining nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people in federal law,” said The Rev. Stan J. Sloan, CEO of Family Equality Council.“Around 50% of LGBTQ people live in states with no statewide legal protections from discrimination, leaving approximately 8 million LGBTQ people and their families at risk of anti-LGBTQ discrimination simply because of who they are and who they love.”
“The Equality Act is urgently needed to ensure the safety and security of LGBTQ people and their families, and today’s vote brings us one step closer to where we need to be,” said Denise Brogan-Kator, chief policy officer at Family Equality Council. “Across the country, LGBTQ people can still get fired from our jobs, evicted from our homes, denied service in a restaurant, or face our children being bullied in school simply because we of who we are, who we love, how our families were formed, and what our parents look like. We now call upon Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the Equality Act to the Senate floor for a vote without delay.”
About Family Equality Council
Family Equality Council advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Family Equality Council believes every LGBTQ person should have the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, regardless of who they are or where they live. Learn more at familyequality.org.
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Media Contact:
Ed Harris, Chief Communications Officer, Family Equality Council
646-880-3005 x117 / eharris@familyequality.org