White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest – Screenshot via YouTube
The White House on Tuesday threw its full-throated support behind the Equality Act, giving LGBT advocates a small victory in what is shaping up to be an arduous battle, with the odds significantly stacked against the likelihood of the bill’s passage.
The Equality Act, which has been endorsed or embraced by the bulk of national LGBT organizations and has been co-sponsored by 39 senators and 170 members of the House of Representatives, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the areas of employment, housing, credit and public accommodations.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at a daily press briefing that President Obama had been reviewing the Equality Act “for several weeks” before coming to a decision.
“It is now clear that the administration strongly supports the Equality Act,” Earnest said, according to The Washington Post, adding that it would advance the civil rights of “millions of Americans.” He also said that the White House would work with Congress to ensure that the final bill that emerges balances “the bedrock principles of civil rights with the religious liberty that we hold dear in this country.”
This is not the first time that the White House has weighed in on the side of LGBT rights. The White House has previously opposed ballot initiatives to ban same-sex marriage, and threw its support behind the now-failed HERO ordinance providing various nondiscrimination protections to the LGBT community, which was defeated in Houston last Tuesday.
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the most vocal organizations pushing for passage of the Equality Act, issued a statement praising the president’s stance and emphasizing the importance of nondiscrimination legislation.
“The unfortunate reality is that, while LGBT Americans can legally get married, millions remain at risk of being fired or denied services for who they are or who they love because the majority of states still lack explicit, comprehensive nondiscrimination protections,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “By endorsing the Equality Act, the White House sent a strong message that it’s time to put the politics of discrimination behind us once and for all. Now it’s time for Congress to act. Everyone should be able to live free from fear of discrimination and have a fair chance to earn a living and provide for their families, including people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender.”
But while many major corporations have embraced the Equality Act, and most polls indicate that a majority of Americans support the concept of protecting LGBT people from discrimination, the bill faces a tough slog in Congress. So far, no Republicans from either chamber have signed on as co-sponsors, and none of the GOP’s top tier presidential candidates has endorsed the Act, making it much more politically difficult for members of their party to express their support, particularly during a presidential election year.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case involving the question of whether states can enforce laws prohibiting transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming treatments, such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy.
On Monday, June 24, the high court granted certiorari in the case of LW v. Skrmetti, a lawsuit challenging the state of Tennessee's ban.
The lawsuit was signed into law by Republican Governor Bill Lee in March 2023.
It claims the ban:
Violates transgender teens' right to equal protection under the law.
Violates the right of their parents to make decisions regarding the care, custody, and control of their children.
Runs afoul of a section of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits discrimination based on sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
A federal judge initially blocked the law from taking effect, but Tennessee appealed the ruling and asked that it be reversed.
In what came as no surprise to astute political observers, LGBTQ groups pummeled former President Donald Trump for selecting U.S. Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate.
The Ohio Republican, who will turn 40 in August, is a Yale-educated, self-acclaimed populist who has become known best for his hatred of the political Left, support of natalist domestic policies, and archconservative stances on social issues, particularly concerning the LGBTQ community.
As expected, LGBTQ advocates and allies -- many of whom already hold Trump in contempt -- saw the Vance pick as doubling down on the anti-LGBTQ policies that Trump promoted when he was last in the Oval Office.
Following President Joseph R. Biden's announcement on Sunday that he would be dropping out of this year's presidential race, many of the groups that were most fervently in his camp, including LGBTQ organizations, voiced their support for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden abandoned his re-election bid after relentless pressure from party insiders and weeks of panicking from liberal activists following his disastrous performance against Donald Trump in a televised debate on June 27.
For weeks, pundits -- aided by the mainstream media -- called into question President Biden's age, physical fitness, and mental acuity, questioning whether the 81-year-old president could withstand the rigors of campaigning and whether he was the candidate best suited to articulate the Democratic Party's message and stances on various issues.
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