The Democratic-controlled House on Thursday passed the Equality Act, a sweeping civil rights bill that expands protections in education, housing, employment and more to LGBT people.
The bill, which was first passed by the Democratic-led House in 2019, faces a steep climb in the Senate where Republicans are almost uniformly opposed to it.
The legislation, passed 224 to 206, almost entirely along party lines, 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. “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