WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced her co-sponsorship of the Equality Act, legislation that would explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, jury service, public accommodations, and the use of federal funds. The Equality Act would close legal loopholes that allow both the government and private actors to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals.
“Despite the progress we’ve made, our current federal anti-discrimination laws still do not adequately protect members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination,” said Senator Rosen. “We need the Equality Act to ensure that everyone across our nation is treated equally. I proudly support this legislation so that we can continue to create more open, loving, and tolerant communities in Nevada and across the nation.”
BACKGROUND: Despite major advances in equality for LGBTQ Americans, including nationwide marriage equality, the majority of states still do not have explicit LGBTQ non-discrimination protection laws.
More specifically, Equality Act would:
- Ensure full federal non-discrimination equality by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to other protected classes, such as race or religion, in existing federal laws.
- Explicitly ban discrimination in a host of areas, including education, housing, public accommodations, jury service, access to credit, and federal funding, in addition to prohibiting discrimination in employment, codifying the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision.
- Add protections against sex discrimination in parts of anti-discrimination laws where these protections had not been included previously, including in public accommodations and federal funding.
Rosen co-sponsored this same legislation in the 116th Congress and in the House of Representatives in the 115th Congress.
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