Issue Position: Equal Rights

Issue Position

For his 40 years in public life, Jerry has worked tirelessly in pursuit of equal rights for all Americans, fighting daily against legal discrimination and bigotry. A friend to all those who are fighting for equality -- racial and religious minorities, women, the LGBT community, the disability community, and others -- Jerry is considered the staunchest of advocates for our constitutionally guaranteed access to civil rights. And, in his role as top Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Jerry is formally and specifically charged with defending and advancing these rights and protecting what he sees as a cornerstone of our democracy.

Jerry has worked actively against racial profiling by law enforcement officials, co-sponsoring the End Racial Profiling Act among others steps, and devoted considerable time in the Subcommittee to monitoring and reinforcing voting rights for African-Americans and other groups that have been systematically disenfranchised. He has fought for the Americans with Disabilities Act and its recent improvements to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded critical access and opportunity. And, as a champion of women's rights, he was among the authors and strongest supporters of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a seminal equal pay bill that was President Obama's first to sign in office.

In recent years, as the LGBT community's struggle for equality has taken center stage, Jerry has been lauded regularly as a leading champion of LGBT rights, and has received awards for his work from nearly every national and local LGBT organization. Since joining the House, he has been an original co-sponsor of every major piece of LGBT rights legislation, and an unyielding opponent of every piece of discriminatory legislation aimed at the LGBT community, including leading the House effort to stop the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment. He is a founding member and Vice Chair of the House LGBT Equality Caucus, a leading national supporter of marriage equality, and fought from the start against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'

Rep. Barney Frank remarked that "Jerry Nadler has been a vigorous, unyielding, active supporter of fairness for gay men and lesbians on every relevant issue since he came to Congress."

Jerry has personally authored the Respect for Marriage Act, to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act; the Uniting American Families Act, to allow people in committed same-sex couples to sponsor partners for immigration purposes; the Mychal Judge Act (signed into law in 2002), to allow same-sex partners to receive public safety officer death benefits after 9/11; and, the Equal Access to Social Security Act.

Jerry has repeatedly received 100% scores from a variety of civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the NAACP, and the Human Rights Campaign.

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