HRC announces Business Coalition for the Equality Act
By Rob Howard
Associate Editor
On Thursday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced the launch of their Business Coalition for the Equality Act. The coalition includes 60 major employers that have officially endorsed the bipartisan Equality Act.
The Equality Act was introduced in July 2015 by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in the Senate and by Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI) and John Lewis (D-GA) in the House. According to US News and World Report at the time, congressional Democrats wanted to tap into the momentum given the LGBTQ movement by the Obergefell decision, which extended same-sex marriage nationwide.
US News wrote, “Hoping to harness the momentum generated by the Supreme Court's landmark decision legalizing gay marriage, congressional Democrats on Thursday unveiled sweeping legislation that would extend additional rights to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“’While same-sex couples could today legally marry, tomorrow they could lose their jobs,’ Merkley said at a press conference [in July 2015]. ‘ The time has come for us as a nation to be bolder and better.’"
HRC’s website entry on the Equality Act explains in more detail: “Even though the Supreme Court’s ruling has brought marriage equality to all 50 states, 31 states still lack clear, fully-inclusive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people, meaning that despite the ruling, LGBT Americans can get legally married but still be at risk of being denied services for who they are or risk being fired simply for getting married and wearing their wedding ring to the office the next day. Discrimination is a real and persistent problem for too many LGBT Americans. Nearly two-thirds of self-identified LGBT Americans reported experiencing discrimination in their personal lives.
“The problems come up over and over again in the 31 states that don’t have clear, fully-inclusive LGBT non-discrimination laws. There’s the teacher who was fired after her principal found out she was planning to have a child with her partner. There’s the lesbian couple asked to leave a park while shooting maternity photos. And the transgender woman shamefully denied housing at a shelter. Despite the incredible progress on issues from marriage to military service, these stories are far too common.”
HRC has continued to work to build support for the act. In its announcement of the Coalition Thursday, they said, “Since HRC joined with lawmakers and advocates last July to introduce the Equality Act in Congress, HRC has continued to build support from the business community. Today, the Business Coalition for the Equality Act launches with 60 leading American companies. With operations in all 50 states, headquarters spanning 22 states and a combined $1.9 trillion in revenue, the companies that make up the coalition employ over 4.2 million people in the United States.
“’These business leaders are showing true leadership and fighting to end a shameful status quo that leaves LGBT people at risk in a majority of states for being denied services or fired because of who they are or who they love,’ said HRC President Chad Griffin. ‘We’re proud of all these corporate leaders stepping forward to say that all Americans, including LGBT people, should be able to live free from fear of discrimination and have a fair chance to earn a living.’
“A majority of states -- 32 states in total -- still lack fully inclusive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people, and there are no explicit federal protections against discrimination. Introduced one month after the historic Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that ushered in nationwide marriage equality, the Equality Act would finally guarantee explicit, permanent protections for LGBT people under our existing civil rights laws. The Equality Act provides clear, permanent and equal protections under federal law for all Americans in vital areas of life, like employment, access to public spaces, housing, credit, education, jury service, and federally funded programs.”
HRC says there is voter support for LGBTQ protections, saying, “HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act launch comes after new polling released by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that nationally, support for a bill like the Equality Act topped 70 percent, which includes a majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The groundbreaking report from PRRI included 42,000 interviews in 50 states and found support for the Equality Act in all 50 states.”
Republicans Senator Mark Kirk, of Illinois, and Rep. Bob Dold, also of Illinois, recently signed on as co-sponsors of the Equality Act.
To see a list of businesses joining the Coalition and supporting the Equality Act, visit www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-announces-60-companies-launch-business-coalition-for-the-equality-act.
The Gayly – March 12, 2016 @ 2:45 p.m.