The U.S. House vote next week on the
Equality Act.
According to the
Washington
Blade, an official announcement of the vote will come on
Friday.
The legislation, which
cleared the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month, seeks
to prohibit discrimination against people who identify as lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender in key areas such as employment,
housing, federally-funded programs, and public accommodations.
(Related: Pete
Buttigieg endorses LGBT protections bill Equality Act.)
The Equality Act is expected to clear
the House, but will likely stall in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The bill is sponsored by Rhode Island
Representative David Cicilline in the House and Oregon Senator Jeff
Merkley in the Senate. Cicilline is openly gay.
Christian conservatives opposed to LGBT
rights have been vocally opposed to the Equality Act. Bryan Fischer,
for example, has claimed that the
legislation would protect pedophiles, while Brian Brown,
president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), said that
passage would make
supporting heterosexual marriage illegal. Tony Perkins of the
Family Research Council (FRC) claimed that the
legislation would “destroy businesses.”
(Related: Pat
Robertson: God will give up on America over LGBT protections bill
Equality Act.)