The United States has made tremendous strides in recent history toward protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people. In 2022, Congress passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the discriminatory so-called Defense of Marriage Act, in “the most pro-LGBTQ vote in Congressional history.” Recent Supreme Court precedents have also recognized the right of LGBTQ+ people to protection from employment discrimination. We laud these actions. Yet so much more needs to be done.
The ACLU identified 574 bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights in state legislatures in 2024, many of them specifically targeted at the transgender community. In many states throughout the country, LGBTQ+ people can and do face discrimination in housing, access to credit, public accommodations, and education. A survey of nearly 2,000 LGBTQ+ adults in 2022 found that 1 in 3 had experienced discrimination in the year before taking the survey.
The Equality Act affirms that this type of discrimination violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and would, for the first time, explicitly protect the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and more.
Recent research has shown that more than 7 in 10 Americans support nondiscrimination laws protecting their LGBTQ+ neighbors. Contact your Senators and Representative and urge them to reintroduce and support the Equality Act.
Additional Resources:
The National State of Emergency Facing the Transgender Community in the United States report from the Human Rights Campaign
Discrimination and Barriers to Well-Being: The State of the LGBTQI+ Community in 2022 from the Center for American Progress
General Convention and Executive Council Resolutions:
- 2021-MW 040: Renewed Commitment to LGBTQ+ Equality
- EXC062016.08: Support for Civil Rights of Transgender People
- 2006-A095: Reaffirm Support of Gay and Lesbian Persons
- 1976-A071: Support the Right of Homosexuals to Equal Protection of the Law