After Orlando: Pass the Equality Act
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Most Americans appear to think that it is illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals
[/pullquote]The horrific massacre in Orlando June 12 is all the more shocking because so much legal progress has been made toward the broad acceptance and protection of the LGBTQ community across the country. The carnage brings many issues to the fore, but surely one of them has to be, now during Pride Month, how we can strengthen the integration of equal rights for all into the fabric of our national consciousness. And the truth remains that we are not as far along as we think – not only because such atrocities as Orlando are possible, but because routine discrimination and persecution of LGBTQ individuals persists without the federal protection of civil rights laws accorded to everyone else.
When surveyed, most Americans appear to think that it is illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals in public accommodations, housing, and employment. And in 19 states including the District of Columbia, thankfully, it is. But there is no federal law barring discriminatory treatment everywhere. There should be. Attempts in Congress to enact legislation barring discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, begun as long ago as 1974, have repeatedly failed.
In response to these failures, President Obama signed an executive order two years ago adding sexual orientation and gender identity to existing regulations barring discrimination in hiring and employment by federal contractors. Despite widespread support in the business community for such expanded nondiscrimination policies, a controversy erupted over the executive order just last month in the House. An amendment to one appropriations bill was passed that would overturn the executive order, while a competing amendment that would preserve the order succeeded when attached to a different appropriations bill. However, the bill with LGBTQ protections was then defeated overall.
[pullquote align=left] LGBTQ and civil rights communities have coalesced around the Equality Act — ambitious legislation that would add a ban on discrimination based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
[/pullquote]Such roller coaster machinations show the tenuous nature of support in Congress for LGBTQ equality and the ability of a recalcitrant minority there to stymie progress broadly supported by the general public. In response, the LGBTQ and civil rights communities have coalesced around the Equality Act — ambitious legislation that would add a ban on discrimination based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (Sex alone is now covered only by Title VII of the 1964 act, which bars employment discrimination.) The bill would also update the definition of public accommodations to include retail stores, banks, transportation services, and health care services, among other services not now covered.
No longer would businesses be able to discriminate in services and sales based on gender which, under federal law, they can now do. For example, women could not be charged more by car dealers or even by hair salons (if the haircuts were the same), or refused service in restaurants without violating federal law. People hailing a cab could not be denied service, as so many African Americans often are.
The need for a comprehensive approach to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is buttressed by the uproar this spring over efforts to bar transgender individuals from using rest rooms that match their gender identity. The ongoing situation in North Carolina has brought the issue to national attention. After the city of Charlotte adopted an inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance encompassing rest rooms, the state’s governor immediately introduced legislation to overturn Charlotte’s efforts, which quickly passed. Businesses, entertainers, and others announced they would boycott the state.
[pullquote align=right] Orlando must be the agent that mobilizes all of us to demand civil rights protections for all, enshrined in law.
[/pullquote]Coincidentally, just after passage of the new state law, the Obama Administration issued guidance on the topic utilizing longstanding interpretations of Title IX, the civil rights law covering educational institutions that receive federal assistance. Title IX contains a ban on discrimination based on sex that has previously been interpreted to include gender identity and sexual orientation, and the new regulations were based on that interpretation. Nevertheless ten states and one governor sued the administration in response to the guidance.
Executive orders and rules and regulations setting policy are not permanent. They could disappear with a new president, which we are sure to have in January 2017. They could be struck down by the courts as executive overreach. Orlando must be the agent that mobilizes all of us to demand civil rights protections for all, enshrined in law. Passage of the Equality Act would not only bring our federal laws in line with our national commitments, it would be a rebuke to the hatred and venom expressed in the Orlando attack.
[/pullquote]The horrific massacre in Orlando June 12 is all the more shocking because so much legal progress has been made toward the broad acceptance and protection of the LGBTQ community across the country. The carnage brings many issues to the fore, but surely one of them has to be, now during Pride Month, how we can strengthen the integration of equal rights for all into the fabric of our national consciousness. And the truth remains that we are not as far along as we think – not only because such atrocities as Orlando are possible, but because routine discrimination and persecution of LGBTQ individuals persists without the federal protection of civil rights laws accorded to everyone else.
When surveyed, most Americans appear to think that it is illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals in public accommodations, housing, and employment. And in 19 states including the District of Columbia, thankfully, it is. But there is no federal law barring discriminatory treatment everywhere. There should be. Attempts in Congress to enact legislation barring discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, begun as long ago as 1974, have repeatedly failed.
In response to these failures, President Obama signed an executive order two years ago adding sexual orientation and gender identity to existing regulations barring discrimination in hiring and employment by federal contractors. Despite widespread support in the business community for such expanded nondiscrimination policies, a controversy erupted over the executive order just last month in the House. An amendment to one appropriations bill was passed that would overturn the executive order, while a competing amendment that would preserve the order succeeded when attached to a different appropriations bill. However, the bill with LGBTQ protections was then defeated overall.
[pullquote align=left] LGBTQ and civil rights communities have coalesced around the Equality Act — ambitious legislation that would add a ban on discrimination based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
[/pullquote]Such roller coaster machinations show the tenuous nature of support in Congress for LGBTQ equality and the ability of a recalcitrant minority there to stymie progress broadly supported by the general public. In response, the LGBTQ and civil rights communities have coalesced around the Equality Act — ambitious legislation that would add a ban on discrimination based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (Sex alone is now covered only by Title VII of the 1964 act, which bars employment discrimination.) The bill would also update the definition of public accommodations to include retail stores, banks, transportation services, and health care services, among other services not now covered.
No longer would businesses be able to discriminate in services and sales based on gender which, under federal law, they can now do. For example, women could not be charged more by car dealers or even by hair salons (if the haircuts were the same), or refused service in restaurants without violating federal law. People hailing a cab could not be denied service, as so many African Americans often are.
The need for a comprehensive approach to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is buttressed by the uproar this spring over efforts to bar transgender individuals from using rest rooms that match their gender identity. The ongoing situation in North Carolina has brought the issue to national attention. After the city of Charlotte adopted an inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance encompassing rest rooms, the state’s governor immediately introduced legislation to overturn Charlotte’s efforts, which quickly passed. Businesses, entertainers, and others announced they would boycott the state.
[pullquote align=right] Orlando must be the agent that mobilizes all of us to demand civil rights protections for all, enshrined in law.
[/pullquote]Coincidentally, just after passage of the new state law, the Obama Administration issued guidance on the topic utilizing longstanding interpretations of Title IX, the civil rights law covering educational institutions that receive federal assistance. Title IX contains a ban on discrimination based on sex that has previously been interpreted to include gender identity and sexual orientation, and the new regulations were based on that interpretation. Nevertheless ten states and one governor sued the administration in response to the guidance.
Executive orders and rules and regulations setting policy are not permanent. They could disappear with a new president, which we are sure to have in January 2017. They could be struck down by the courts as executive overreach. Orlando must be the agent that mobilizes all of us to demand civil rights protections for all, enshrined in law. Passage of the Equality Act would not only bring our federal laws in line with our national commitments, it would be a rebuke to the hatred and venom expressed in the Orlando attack.
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