Great news. Would include all anti-LGBTQ discrimination, including employment, housing and public accommodations.
Now the bill is ready for House action.
When first proposed, this legislation was deeply flawed and covered only employment, as if Gay people didn't deserve the same treatment as other discriminate groups under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. (Sadly, our sold out "liberal" Democratic friends once insisted on giving Gays half a loaf, and I rejected it -- Democrats too often pull their punches and make concessions on the front end. As Ernest LeFever once said, "Appeasement is always wrong.")
I was the author of the first article on Gay marriage for an American Bar Association publication (1991) and was the prevailing plaintiff's lawyer in the landmark case of Duane David Rinde v. Woodward & Lothrop Co..
Yes, I am plum tickled by this vote.
Protecting Gay rights from sea to shining sea -- just as the American Bar Association House of Delegates recommended in February 1989 at their Midyear meeting, in Denver, guided by the wisdom of visionary ABA House of Delegates members, including U.S. Department of Labor Chief Administrative Law Judge Nahum Litt (1935-2019), my mentor. I came out to him shortly before the end of my clerkship in August 1988. He became a champion for Gay rights and security clearance reform and whistleblower protection in ABA.
The resolution had been defeated thrice before, and was headed for failure again, based on opponents, including judges and lawyers, focusing or exploiting the ambiguity of the term "sexual orientation."
Twelve hours before the debate began in Los Angeles, I suggested to Judge Litt and ABA Young Lawyers Division Staff Director Ronald Hirsch a one-sentence amendment, adding the definition from the D.C. Human Rights Act ("heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality.").
It was added at the beginning of House of Delegates debate as a friendly amendment by Boston litigator John Curtin, speaking for the Section of Litigation. This helped pass the resolution, which has given what Judge Litt would call "spinal and testicular implants" to courts and legislators ever since.
Opposition was overcome by definitional precision, leaving Joe Stampers, from Antlers, Oklahoma and other mossbacks spitting nails and sputtering mad during a five hour debate, talking about bestiality and pederasty, not covered by the newly-defined term. Two delegates from St. Louis were overheard joking about it, with one saying, "When it comes to bestiality, just say WHOA!" I later learned that some of our liberal friends wanted the ambiguity and did not appreciate the friendly amendment.
Politics is the art of the possible, which is something I learned as a journalist and in the offices of three Senators and two federal administrative law judges -- something our PC friends ought to learn here in St. Augustine, Florida. (The dumb 'ole "debate" over Confederate monuments makes this painfully obvious.)
From The Washington Blade:
May 1, 2019 at 6:31 pm EDT | by Michael K. Lavers
House Judiciary Committee passes Equality Act
The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights laws.
The Equality Act, which U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in March, passed the committee by a 22-10 vote margin with all Republican committee members voting against it. The openly gay Rhode Island Democrat in a statement after the vote said “fairness and equality are core American values.”
“This bill affirms those values and ensures members of the LGBTQ community can live their lives free from the fear of legal discrimination of any kind,” said Cicilline.
We’re proud to work with our partners and pro-equality members of Congress on this vital legislation. pic.twitter.com/hF84VTCBfI— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) May 1, 2019
Applause erupts as the
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who chairs the committee, spoke in favor of the Equality Act at the beginning of the markup, which is the first time one has taken place for the perennial bill.
“This is long-overdue legislation that will explicitly prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming Americans and strengthen nondiscrimination protections for women and others,” said the New York Democrat.
Equality Act supporters who spoke on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday agreed with Nadler.
“The American dream is broken when all states are not united,” said Carter Brown, founder of Black Trans Men who said he lost his job in Texas because of his gender identity. “All Americans need permanent, explicit nondiscrimination laws in place and enforced.”
The Equality Act would specifically add gender identity and sexual orientation to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act.
The bill has 240 co-sponsors in the House from both sides of the aisle. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) has introduced the Equality Act in the U.S. Senate.
“It’s time for Congress to add explicit federal LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections to our nation’s civil rights laws,” said the Human Rights Campaign in a tweet.
Advocates have urged the full House to approve the Equality Act.
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