President Biden, ahead of the expected vote on the Equality Act next week, issued a statement Friday on the LGBTQ legislation, calling it a “a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.” “Full equality has been denied to LGBTQ+ Americans and their families for far too long,” Biden said. “Despite the extraordinary progress the LGBTQ+ community has made to secure their basic civil rights, discrimination is still rampant in many areas of our society.
The Equality Act provides long overdue federal civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, locking in critical safeguards in our housing, education, public services, and lending systems — and