Headline Roundup • February 24th, 2021
US House Passes The Equality Act
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Featured Coverage of this Story
New York Times (News)
A divided House on Thursday narrowly passed a sprawling bill that would extend civil rights protections to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, but the measure faced an uphill battle to enactment, with Republicans almost uniformly opposed.
The legislation, passed 224 to 206, almost entirely along party lines, stands little chance of drawing enough Republican support in the Senate to advance, at least in its current form. It was the second time the Democratic-led House had passed the measure, known as the Equality Act, which...
National Review (News)
The Democrat-controlled House on Thursday passed the Equality Act, sweeping legislation that would add sexual orientation and transgender status as protected classes under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The legislation, passed in a vote of 224-206, would amend federal civil rights laws to solidify protections for LGBTQ Americans in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service and other areas. President Biden has called the bill “a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.”
BBC News
The US House of Representatives has passed sweeping legislation that prohibits LGBT discrimination, but it faces an unlikely future in the Senate.
The Equality Act was previously passed by the Democratic-led House in 2019, but was killed by Senate Republicans.
The debate has laid bare the ideological battle between liberals who support the act and conservatives who say it infringes on religious freedom.
The act expands on a 2020 Supreme Court ruling protecting some LGBT rights.
