Full Text proposed US Equality Act

[AnneHutchinson]

What US women are fighting -- this is the full text of the bill to be voted on (bolds mine)

Equality Act

This bill amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation.

*The bill defines:

"sex" to include a sex stereotype, sexual orientation or gender identity, and pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition;*
"sexual orientation" as homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality; and
"gender identity" as gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or characteristics, regardless of the individual's designated sex at birth.
The bill expands the categories of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide:

exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays;
goods, services, or programs, including a store, a shopping center, an online retailer or service provider, a salon, a bank, a gas station, a food bank, a service or care center, a shelter, a travel agency, a funeral parlor, or a health care, accounting, or legal service; or
transportation services.
The bill prohibits "establishment" from being construed to be limited to a physical facility or place.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) may bring a civil action if it receives a complaint from an individual who claims to be:

denied equal utilization of a public facility owned, operated, or managed by a state (other than public schools or colleges) on account of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity; or
denied admission to, or not permitted to continue attending, a public college by reason of sexual orientation or gender identity, thereby expanding DOJ's existing authority to bring such actions for complaints based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The bill revises public school desegregation standards to provide for the assignment of students without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

The bill prohibits programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance from denying benefits to, or discriminating against, persons based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

The bill prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity, subject to the same exceptions and conditions that currently apply to unlawful employment practices based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Employers must recognize individuals in accordance with their gender identity if sex is a bona fide occupational qualification that is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise.

The bill provides government employees with protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

DOJ may intervene in equal protection actions in federal court on account of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Protections against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin shall include protections against discrimination based on: (1) an association with another person who is a member of such a protected class; or (2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, that an individual is a member of such a protected class. The bill prohibits the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 from providing a claim, defense, or basis for challenging such protections.

This bill prohibits an individual from being denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.

The bill amends Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and jury selection standards to add sexual orientation and gender identity as classes protected against discrimination under such laws.

bold fail above

The bill defines:

"sex" to include a sex stereotype, sexual orientation or gender identity, and pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition;

Link here

www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2282

Thank you for posting Anne! If enacted this will be, as Kara Dansky said, an "unmitigated disaster for women and girls."

And there is a media blackout on these provisions outside of a few stirrings on the edges of the right-wing press. American women have NO IDEA this is likely to pass, and soon.

JFC..that bill purposely doesn’t define sex at all. Sex= Ladyfeelz and an aberration from the male archetype.

it codifies sex stereotypes as definitive of sex into law.

You’ve put it better Anne.
For me sex (biology) and gender (learned behaviour and expression) are so distinct, it didn’t reflect what I understand sex to mean. I also don’t follow the logic of ‘sex is pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition’.
The sentence is neither grammatically correct, or aligned with scientific fact.
When is the bill being proposed to officials?

I don't know. It has to come out of committee and be passed by the House. That will probably happen quickly, once the ball starts rolling. Then it goes to the Senate. I wouldn't place a large bet on the Senate voting in favour. But they may pass their own version, in which case it would go to conference committee to create a new bill both houses can pass. From there to the president's desk for signature. I'm not convinced Trump will sign it, for the simple reason that business people tend not to like the addition of issues they can be taken to court over. If he doesn't sign it, it can still become by a 2/3 vote in both houses, and I don't think that will happen.

In 2009 Congress was all set to pass ENDA, a law banning discrimination against sexual orientation, and Obama would have signed it, but then gender identity was added in, and it had no chance, and rather than return to the original provision, the sponsoring congressman withdrew the bill. There is a rift in the LGBT community over this decision.

So I don't think the danger this bill proposes is immediate. The danger is the same as in the UK -- everyone getting ahead of the law, as is already happening, but also states themselves passing versions of the law. With everything so patchwork, the Supreme Court, if Congress doesn't act, will eventually have to weigh in.

Meanwhile, gays and lesbians really SHOULD be protected by the Civil Rights Act. Given the pre-exisgting rift over the failure of ENDA, I don't know how the community will respond if once again they don't win this protection because of the inclusion of gender identity, which has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

Thank you so much for responding with such detail. So the phrasing doesn’t matter so much as the bills existence, which even if it doesn’t pass, risks being copied and passed into law elsewhere until/unless explicitly challenged and amended.

Am so sorry that Lesbian and Gays still are not protected by a civil rights act. The gender identity crowd have certainly stymied you all there.

Am so sorry that Lesbian and Gays still are not protected by a civil rights act. The gender identity crowd have certainly stymied you all there.

From 2007:
ENDA was first introduced 30 years ago. In all that time, it only protected sexual orientation and never included gender identity. This year, that changed, and gender identity was added to the bill. Coincidentally, this year is also the first time that ENDA actually has a real chance of passing both the House and Senate -- but only if gender identity isn't in the bill. So the bill's author, openly gay Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., dropped the transgendered from the bill, and all hell broke loose
www.salon.com/2007/10/08/lgbt/