Discrimination is still a real and persistent problem for many LGBTQ Americans.
Tomorrow, Congress will reintroduce the Equality Act with bipartisan and corporate support. The Act would extend existing civil rights protections to LGBTQ people by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally-funded programs and jury service.
The Human Rights Commission polling from 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of self-identified LGBTQ Americans report experiencing discrimination — including people like Carter Brown, below, a transgender man from Texas who lost his job after he was outed by his colleagues.
Roughly 50 percent of LGBTQ Americans live in states where they’re at risk of being fired, denied housing, or refused service because of who they are. There is no federal law explicitly protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination and 31 states still lack fully-inclusive non-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community.
Call or write your legislators and express your support for the Equality Act.
