The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Equality Act, which guarantees explicit, permanent protections for LGBTQ people under our nation's existing civil rights laws, in a 224-206 vote with three Republican joining Democrats to approve the bill, which now goes to the Senate.
The Washington Post reports: “The legislation was passed by the House in 2019 but blocked in the Republican-led Senate. This time around, Democrats now control the White House, House and Senate. President Biden has signaled his support for the measure, but it still faces an uphill fight in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a legislative filibuster.”
Among the lowlights of the debate was Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who called transgender people an insult to God: “When men or women claim to be able to choose their own sexual identity, they're making a statement that God did not know what he was doing when he created them. … When a nation's laws no longer reflect the standards of God, that nation is in rebellion against him and will inevitably bear the consequences.”
