President Joe Biden has posted several tweets during June to mark Pride Month. He’s not letting up as it draws to a close. Yesterday evening he posted again, saying, “Love is love. No one should face discrimination because of who they are or whom they love. Congress must pass and send me the Equality Act. It’s time we codified protections for the LGBTQI+ community.”
At the time of writing, the tweet had over 33k likes and prompted 14k comments. Some thanked him for his show of support, although—predictably—many others expressed horror or simply trolled the President.
The Equality Act has been introduced, and failed to pass, on several occasions previously. According to HRC, the legislation would, “provide consistent and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service.”
What’s happening with the Equality Act at the moment?
The Equality Act was reintroduced in the 118th Congress on June 21, 2023, in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) and in the Senate by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).
At a news conference last week, to tie in with the Act’s reintroduction, Takano said, “We cannot allow extremists in our country to once again normalize homophobia and attacks on LGBTQ people. We can’t turn away from the discrimination that still exists for so many LGBTQ people today.”
Will it pass this time?
Its passage in the House is uncertain, now that Republicans hold a slim majority. In 2021, 206 House Republicans voted against the bill while three voted for it. George Santos (R-NY), the first out-gay GOP Rep, has not stated whether he will vote for it or not, but it’s believed unlikely (if he’s still in office, of course).
Democrats now have a slim majority in the Senate. Some point to the success of the Respect For Marriage Act, which passed with bipartisan support last November, to say there’s hope for the Equality Act.
“The fight for LGBTQ+ rights has been long, but we have made unmistakable progress in the fight towards true equality,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin said last Wednesday. “Just a decade ago, passing marriage equality and the Respect for Marriage Act with a dozen Republican senators on our side would have been unthinkable.”
“We defied political gravity,” she added.
Related*
George Santos reacts to Kevin McCarthy dumping him — & laughing about it — live on TV
Santos is determined to continue serving ‘DC Congress Realness’, despite scoring 1s across the board…
Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis & Elon Musk won’t quit bitching about the White House’s Pride message
This beautiful message of support from the White House triggered many.
Mister P
It’s hard to imagine that anyone would want to go on the record as being pro-discrimination or anti-equality; however, republicans are a special breed of stupid.
ncman
It’s not hard to believe at all. They are passing anti-LGBTQ+ laws as fast as they can at the state level.
dbmcvey
Very nice. It’s good to have him as a strong supporter.
London_resistance
“As Pride Month draws to a close, Joe Biden has one simple message – Thank the fvkcc that’s over!
Now we have remaining 11 months of trans pride to enjoy.
Remember unless trans are at the forefront of everything then you’re being transphobic
correctio
british person alert! ^^
dbmcvey
If you don’t want people to say you’re transphobic, stop being transphobic. All your whining doesn’t make it untrue.
London_resistance
dbmcvey says to me “f you don’t want people to say you’re transphobic, stop being transphobic. ”
I don’t give a brown fingered fvkc if you consider me transhphobic. It’s nonsense. No-one can change sex. It’s a sexual kink
I am just not religious, don’t believe in gender woo-woo
ScottOnEarth
The U.S. has never had such a queer-friendly, progressive President or administration. Biden was the first major democrat to vocally advocate for marriage equality, at a time when it was definitely not trendy to do so, and both Obama and Hillary still opposed it. His wife, Dr. Jill, is just as vocal and sincere in her advocacy. They are very much appreciated.
Fahd
What was going on between Jan. 2021 and Jan. 2023 when Biden was already president and the Democrats had a majority in the House (remember Nancy Pelosi) and the Senate? If there´s a possibility a filibuster in the Senate wouldn´t have happened/won´t happen, then why not have (re) introduced the Equality Act back when the Democrats held the House?
Now, it just seems to be a gesture to hold the Republicans accountable and make the Republicans look bad (not that hard) which isn´t the same as actually getting it passed.
Still, hope springs eternal. I hope they somehow can get it to Biden´s desk. Btw, good to see Biden’s picture on the site, instead of the usual lineup of Republicans people love to hate.
dbmcvey
2 things. Joe Manchin, Krystin Sinema.
Hayden
It will never pass the house. And I’m not sure it would even pass the senate with manchin and senima
inbama
Ireland is considering a new hate crimes bill that would cover gender identity.
Yesterday, their prime minister was asked how many genders would be covered.
He couldn’t answer.
dbmcvey
How many do you think there are?
inbama
@dbmcvey
As many as you and WPATH say there are.
I don’t know any slurs for “eunuch,” though, but I guess the Irish do and need to outlaw them.
Mister P
Gender is a spectrum. Why is that question so important?
decrans
Sixty-four percent of Americans disagree with that statement. That’s why it’s important. Statistics.
Openminded
I know it’s hard to believe a Republican could be making this statement, but imagine how great our country could become if we could simply get 1. The Equality Act passed, 2. Get Abortion rights passed, and 3. Get a sensible gun control act passed. These three things have been the center of politics and news for decades while other important things like environment and infrastructure have been swept to the side.
decrans
That would require people to put aside identity politics. And identity politics is what fills the Democratic Party coffers and gets people to the polls. Same with the Republican Party. Hello snake eating its own tail political cycle! And this site exists purely for identity politics. Once y’all start putting ego aside, these other issues could come to the forefront.
decrans
I was listening to Glenn Greenwald on Megyn Kelly today. It’s fascinating that we have a prominent gay journalist who talked openly about today’s LGBTQ activists injecting themselves into the lives of Christians. (He was once a liberal, too.) Gay marriage was won because average Americans could buy into the concept of fairness. With today’s activists mandating that parents conform to gender ideology in California lest there be legal retribution, the original objective of that movement has been transmuted into a manifestation of the worst impulses of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority. And most of those average Americans see the issue differently in a flip-sided funhouse mirror lens. Joe Biden’s “love is love” jargon is an attempt to transport Americans back to 2010. It’s not working out well for him.
inbama
In red states, they’ll jail you parents for transing their kids; in blue states you’re going to lose your kids for not doing it.
I guess that’s federalism. Can you imagine if the Founding Fathers are looking up from their graves?
London_resistance
https:/ /www.youtube.com/ watch?v=EHN4_1G0BE4
The Bigger Picture Conference: Gender Ideology as a Religion with Colette Colfer