Equality Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, now I had a different speech I was going to give today about the Equality Act. As an openly gay Member of Congress, married to my husband, Phil, for 14 years, I was going to talk about the need for equal treatment under the law for everyone, regardless of who they love. Human kindness, respect for others--pretty basic stuff. But the new QAnon vibe in this body has gone too far.
For many in this Chamber, this isn't a debate about whether or not you should be legally discriminated against for who you love. You won't hear that debate because they can't win on hate alone. The public doesn't agree with them.
So instead, some are debating that this bill discriminates based on religion, which it doesn't, because it treats everyone the same under the law.
And some are debating an even sillier notion: That somehow a man will pretend to be a woman to win in women's sports--a crazy, made-up fantasy notion.
This new QAnon spirit across the aisle is also occurring in a nasty and hateful way. A lead GOP opponent of this bill actually posted an anti-trans poster on the wall outside her office directly and intentionally across from a Democratic Member of Congress with a trans daughter. Wow. That is classy.
Mr. Speaker, really, is that where we are here today? Who can out- crazy, out-tastelessly act to prove to the base that they will say or do anything to score points and show how inconsiderate they can be to a colleague to just get social media clickbait?
Here are the facts: One in four transgender people have lost a job due to discrimination, and dozens of transgender and gender- nonconforming people were violently killed last year. And LGBTQ youth are almost 5 times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth due to discrimination. It is past time we put an end to this. A vote against the Equality Act is a vote for discrimination, plain and simple.
Mr. Speaker, this isn't Iran or Somalia or Russia. This is America. Show human dignity for others by offering equal treatment under the law. That is the Equality Act.
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