Incidents reported by LGBT people ranged from homophobic, biphobic and transphobic comments and attitudes (82 per cent), to acts of verbal (68 per cent), physical (16 per cent) and sexual abuse (7 per cent), crimes against property (12 per cent), and discriminatory treatment when accessing services (25 per cent) and in employment (24 per cent).
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A comprehensive LGBT civil rights bill may be introduced to Congress on Thursday, according to a report by the Washington Blade, who obtained a “Dear Colleague” letter outlining the piece of legislation and asking for co-sponsorship.
It is being sponsored in the Senate by Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Cory Booker of New Jersey. “In most states, a same-sex couple can get married on Saturday, post pictures on Facebook on Sunday, and then risk being fired from their job or kicked out of their apartment on Monday”.
He said the bill is necessary because the “unacceptable patchwork of state-level protections for LGBT people, and more than half of LGBT Americans live in a state that lacks fully-inclusive non-discrimination laws”. It was never introduced in the Senate, and never made it out of committee in the House.
In the House, Rep. Cicilline is set to introduce the bill- which will defend LGBT rights in housing, education, employment and other divisions- this week.
The Human Rights Campaign president, Chad Griffin, supports the proposed legislation. “All LGBT Americans deserve a fair chance to earn a living and provide for their families”.
As Buzzfeed noted, the part of the bill conservatives are most likely to push back against is the provision prohibiting discrimination in places of public accommodation – i.e. businesses such as pizzerias, bakeries and flower shops that religious owners have claimed do not have to sell their products to people who they know will use them for a same-sex wedding.
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The Equality Bill was named after the 1974 landmark legislation by the same name, which attempted to ban discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals, unmarried persons, and women by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “The time has come in this country for full, federal equality, and nothing less”. While employers do not have to follow the agency’s ruling, it sets an important precedent for future discrimination cases.
