House set to vote on Equality Act after heated debate over gay and transgender rights

Arguments pitting religious liberty against gay and transgender rights grew intense on the House floor Wednesday when lawmakers debated a bill that would prohibit discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The House is set to vote on Thursday on H.R. 5, the Equality Act, which would also expand areas that already have gay and transgender discrimination protections.

When a voice vote was called to begin debate of the bill, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, trying to delay Thursday’s vote, called for an adjournment vote. The motion failed 202 yeas to 214 nays. The subsequent rule votes for the bill on Wednesday went on as scheduled.

The legislation, which was introduced several times in prior years and last passed the lower chamber in 2019, would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.