Hello, Equality Act
With Democrats looking likely to sweep the Georgia Senate races, basic LGBTQ human rights may finally be in reach
With Senator-elect Raphael Warnock’s victory and Jon Ossoff running ahead in the vote count in Tuesday’s Georgia’s Senate runoffs, it’s looking likely the Democrats will win back control of the upper chamber for the first time since 2010.
With Democrats in control of the House, Senate, and the White House, the stage is set for a laundry list of center-left legislation to be passed and signed into law, including environmental protections, gun control, and buffs to the Affordable Care Act, legislation that has been roundly ignored by soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for the last decade.
Among the first priorities Democrats are expected to take up will be the Equality Act. The bill, at its base, would add LGBTQ people to the list of protected classes under federal civil rights law. It would also modernize existing law to incorporate public services like ride-sharing apps under the definition of “public accommodations.” Additionally, it would represent the largest expansion of sex-based protections under federal law in the last 50 years.
The Equality Act was one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s first bills introduced; it eventually…
