What is the
Equality Act?
The Equality Act is federal legislation that would modernize our nation’s civil rights laws by including explicit protections for LGBTQ people, as well as improving protections for women, people of color, and people of all faiths.
Our nation’s civil rights laws protect people on the basis of race, color, national origin, and in most cases, sex, disability, and religion. But federal law does not explicitly provide anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and includes dangerous loopholes that result in discrimination against women, people of color, and people of faith. The Equality Act helps ensure fair and equal treatment for everyone by extending federal protections in housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service to LGBTQ people, adding protections against sex discrimination to federally funded programs and public accommodations, and expanding public accommodation protections for everyone.
It would amend existing civil rights law – including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Jury Selection and Services Act, and several laws regarding employment with the federal government – to explicitly include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity as protected characteristics.
Currently, 29 states do not have laws that explicitly protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. Without the Equality Act, LGBTQ people remain vulnerable to being evicted from their homes, kicked out of a business that’s open to the public, denied health care, removed from a jury, or denied government services in a majority of states simply because of who they are.
With nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ people having reported experiencing discrimination in their personal lives, the Equality Act would level the playing field for everyone, guaranteeing that LGBTQ people are extended the same federal anti-discrimination protections that others in the United States have enjoyed for decades. It would also extend protections to millions of women who aren’t covered under some existing federal anti-discrimination laws and expand the public spaces and services that can’t discriminate against people of color and people of all faiths, too.
The Equality Act picks up where the Supreme Court left off in its recent landmark decision in Bostock v Clayton County, which ensures LGBTQ people are guaranteed the same federal employment protections as all Americans, by guaranteeing comprehensive federal anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people regardless of where they live. It ensures everyone in America, including LGBTQ+ people, are protected from harassment and discrimination – bringing us closer to Freedom and Opportunity for All.
Discrimination is still happening.
Decades of civil rights history show that civil rights laws are effective in decreasing discrimination because they provide strong federal remedies targeted to specific vulnerable groups. By explicitly including sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in all of our nation’s fundamental civil rights laws, LGBTQ people and women will finally be afforded the exact same protections as other covered characteristics under federal law.
Additionally, the Equality Act would offer stronger discrimination protections for people of color, women, and people of all faiths by updating the public spaces and services covered in current law to include retail stores, services such as banks and legal services, transportation services, and federally funded programs.
Without the Equality Act, the patchwork nature of current laws leaves millions of people subject to uncertainty and potential discrimination that impacts their safety, their families, and their day-to-day lives. These important updates would strengthen existing protections for everyone.
LGBTQ Americans Who Have Experienced Discrimination At Work
Who Would the Equality Act Help?
The Equality Act protects all of us by modernizing our nationwide anti-discrimination protections. Everyone deserves a fair chance to provide for their family and live free from the fear of harassment or discrimination.
No one’s civil rights should depend on the state or zip code they live in – but in the 29 states where guaranteed protections don’t exist, LGBTQ people are at risk of being refused housing or evicted from their homes, kicked out of a business that’s open to the public, denied health care, or denied government services simply because of who they are.
The Equality Act becoming law would mean LGBTQ people can’t be turned away from a homeless shelter, denied a meal at a food bank, or refused disaster relief services simply because of who they are. It would ensure that women cannot be charged more than men by a dry cleaner for laundering a shirt, that taxis and ride-sharing services cannot refuse service to Black people or other communities of color, and a financial planner cannot refuse to work for someone because he disagrees with their religion. It protects LGBTQ children and their families from discrimination by after school care centers, summer camps, and counseling services that engage in conversion therapy. No one deserves any of this, and the Equality Act would provide everyone with the same protections.
“What happens if I want to attend college in a state that doesn’t protect me? Right now, I could be denied medical care or be evicted for simply being transgender in many states. How is that even right? How is that even American?”
Stella Keating, the first transgender teenager to testify before the Senate, on why the Equality Act is important to her.
“It matters that I believe that God is love; it matters that I believe in the biblical verse, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’…The Equality Act is a way for this country to make that tenet of my faith, known as the biblical Golden Rule, the law of the land. It really is that simple.”
Dr. Edith Guffey, MSW, discussing the faith community’s support for the Equality Act in her testimony before the Senate.
Who Supports the Equality Act?
“Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.”
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
“We must respect the dignity and worth of every human being. It is a must that we do what is right, what is fair, and what is just. This is the time to pass the Equality Act.”
Rep. John Lewis
The Equality Act is supported by an overwhelming majority – more than two-thirds – of Americans spanning age, race, religion, and partisan groups, the business community, faith and civil rights leaders, communities in virtually every corner of the country, and major statewide and national organizations.
Hart Research found that national support for the Equality Act is at 70 percent. The legislation has also been endorsed by more than 600 organizations, including civil rights, education, health care, and faith-based organizations. It is also supported by the Business Coalition for the Equality Act, a group of over 400 major companies with operations in all 50 states, headquarters spanning 33 states, and a collective revenue of $6.8 trillion. In total, these companies employ more than 14.6 million people across the United States.
The Equality Act builds on the values shared by all Americans – that everyone deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law – and affirms that everyone deserves the opportunity to live free from discrimination. That’s why there’s overwhelming support from coast to coast – Democrats, Independents, Republicans, business leaders, faith leaders, civil rights leaders, and Americans from communities both urban and rural can all agree that every person deserves to be treated equally under the law.
