The White House said Tuesday that it
was not prepared to endorse a federal bill that seeks nationwide LGBT
protections.
Introduced by Democrats in July, the
Equality Act seeks to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in seven key
areas, including credit, education, employment, federal funding,
housing, jury service and public accommodations, by effectively
expanding the Civil Rights Act, originally approved in 1964.
Over the weekend, Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joe
Biden, who is considering his own bid for the White House, endorsed
the proposed legislation.
When asked about the legislation by
reporters, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the bill was
under review by the administration.
“This is a piece of legislation that
the White House does continue to review,” Earnest
said. “There’s significant consequences to this bill going
into effect. It has an impact on housing law and a variety of other
policies in the federal government, so it’s something that’s
still being carefully reviewed by the administration.”
Earnest added that while President
Barack Obama supports comprehensive LGBT protections, the Equality
Act “is still under review by the administration.”
“The president believes the passage
of comprehensive legislation that protects LGBT Americans from
discrimination would mark an important step toward that outcome,”
Earnest said. “So, we would applaud the efforts of members of
Congress to try to advance that goal, but when it comes to this
specific piece of legislation, it’s something that is still under
review by the administration.”