Rep. Doyle Votes to End Discrimination Against LGBTQ+ Americans

Press Release

Today, Congressman Doyle voted in favor of H.R. 5, the Equality Act, which is legislation to ensure that all LGBTQ Americans are granted the full protections guaranteed by federal civil rights law.

"Our communities in Pittsburgh and throughout Pennsylvania are strengthened and enriched by our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors." Congressman Doyle said. "I am honored to join my colleagues in passing the Equality Act to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans. This bill reaffirms the fundamental truth that all people are created equal and are deserving of dignity, respect, and civil rights in America. As this vital legislation heads to the Senate, I am committed to keep fighting for the Equality Act until it is finally signed into law."

The 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination on race, religion, and gender, but did not include protections for sexual orientation or gender identity. As a result, millions of those in the LGBTQ+ community still live in states where, though they have the right to marry, they have no explicit, state-level non-discrimination protections in other areas of daily life. In many states, for example, after a same-sex couple gets married they can be legally denied service at a restaurant or be evicted from their apartment.

The Equality Act amends existing federal civil rights laws and extends anti-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity not just in the workplace, but in every place -- in employment, education, access to credit, jury service, federal funding, housing, and public accommodations.

Despite the 2020 Supreme Court's Bostock v. Clayton County decision affirming that LGBTQ+ Americans are protected from discrimination in the workplace under federal law, the Trump Administration advanced an anti-LGBT agenda that undermined the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans. In one of its first actions, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order directing all federal agencies to fully comply with the Bostock decision. Nevertheless, the Equality Act remains necessary to codify civil rights protections in every arena of life in America and ensure that future administrations cannot reinterpret the Supreme Court ruling or deny LGBTQ individuals their full rights and protections.

The Equality Act enjoys the overwhelming support of the American people -- 70 percent of whom favor the legislation's vital protections -- as well as robust support from the business community, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and hundreds of leading businesses and corporations that recognize that the strength of our economy and our society requires equal protection under the law.

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