Dear Commons Community,

The House of Representatives yesterday passed a bill that would extend civil rights protections to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.  The legislation, passed 224 to 206 almost entirely along party lines, stands little chance of drawing enough Republican support in the Senate to advance, at least in its current form. It was the second time the Democratic-led House had passed the measure, known as the Equality Act, which seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add explicit bans on discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in both public and private spaces.  As reported by The New York Times.

“In most states, L.G.B.T.Q. people can be discriminated against because of who they are, or who they love,” said Representative David Cicilline, an openly gay Democrat from Rhode Island and the lead sponsor. “It is past time for that to change.”

The passage of the legislation came as a broader fight over transgender rights played out on Capitol Hill, with Republicans attacking transgender people and Democrats insisting they warranted the same civil rights protections afforded to anyone else.

In the House, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the first-term Republican from Georgia who is known for spreading false and bigoted conspiracy theories, referred to the transgender daughter of Representative Marie Newman, Democrat of Illinois, as “your biological son.”

Across the Capitol, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, attacked Dr. Rachel Levine, a pick for a top health post who would be the first transgender woman to be confirmed by the Senate, at a hearing to consider her nomination.”

Congratulations to the House for taking this bill up again.  We will have to wait and see what happens in the Senate!

Tony