Nancy Pelosi Names The Equality Act As A Top Priority In New Congress

(image via office of the Speaker of the House)

As Nancy Pelosi returned to her position as Speaker of the House yesterday, she made a point of saying passage of The Equality Act will be a priority in the upcoming Congress.

The legislation, which has already been introduced in the House before, would outlaw LGBTQ discrimination on a federal level.

“We will make America fairer by passing the Equality Act to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community,” Pelosi said in remarks as she was reelected to Speaker.

I'm always grateful to see LGBTQ legislation brought up, and the Equality Act does stand a good chance of being passed in the House with the newly-installed Democratic majority.

But with the Senate in Republican-control and Donald Trump in the White House, I'm not counting on the legislation becoming law any time soon, unfortunately.

The Human Rights Campaign estimates nearly 50% of LGBTQ Americans live in one of 30 states with no legal protections whatsoever, and could lose their job, be evicted or denied public services based on their sexuality or gender identity.