As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed and sent to the U.S. Senate one of the Democratic majority’s priority bills, the Equality Act (H.R. 5), legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, credit, federal funding, and jury service.
Because there is little enthusiasm to advance the bill in the Republican-controlled Senate, any further action at this point appears to be unlikely. Moreover, the Trump Administration has not taken a position on the legislation, indicating that the bill is not a priority.
Nevertheless, the Equality Act has attracted some limited bipartisan support – eight House Republicans voted yes in the final tally of 236 to 173 – and has garnered substantial support from big business, increasing its prospects for enactment depending on how the political dynamics shift over the next few years.
The text of the House-passed bill is available online.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.