It was high noon on the Hill and the small room was packed to the rafters, although Members of Congress, their aides and allies far outnumbered reporters. A sense of history filled the air, and not only because we were shortly to be treated to the impassioned oratory of Representative John Lewis (D-GA.)
We were crowded into in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room, named for the 36th President of the United States who signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964. And here we were in 2015, learning of a new effort to amend that very Act in order to include the currently excluded lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender members of our society. A society, as many of the speakers pointed out, that still fails to provide liberty and justice for all.
It was the day that Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced the Equality Act. As Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) pointed out, “This legislation that we are introducing is something that resonates with the best of who we are as a nation. But the need for this legislation reflects the worst of who we are. This great country cannot celebrate ideals of liberty and freedom and equality if that is not the truth for every American citizen.”
The level of Democratic endorsement, both in the House and Senate, was reflected in the high-calibre lineup of speakers who were there on July 23 to announce and lend their support to the Equality Act. House Democratic Leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spoke of the collective decision taken by openly gay Congressmen Cicilline and Jared Polis (D-CO), along with other House colleagues, that “there is no place for discrimination in America – not in employment, not in housing, not in transportation, not in health care, not in any subject that you can name.”
There was Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and openly gay Congressmen Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Mark Takano (D-CA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI), and countless other politicians and NGO leaders. And there were personal stories, from gay couple, Krista and Jami Contreras, with their baby daughter in their arms, whose pediatrician had abruptly declined to treat their child. There was Carter Brown, fired when outed as a transgender man, and Luke Peterson, a gay man who lost three separate jobs due to his sexual orientation.
Cicilline and Polis secured in rapid time an impressive 155 House co-sponsors before the Equality Act was even announced (now at 158 and counting.) Merkley tallied the Senate score at 40 so far. But all are Democrats. I asked Merkley and Cicilline whether they thought that, in light of the seven Republican senators who voted for the Democratic led Student Non-Discrimination Act (that fell eight votes short of the necessary 60 to pass,) they might see similarly welcome defections for the Equality Act? (The Act will likely first go to several committees, including Judiciary in both House and Senate.)
“In the House for sure,” Cicilline said. “We’ve been working very hard to continue to educate our colleagues to get the remainder of the Democrats and Republicans on this bill. At the core of this is the question about equality, about being against discrimination, and I think those are deeply-held American values.”
Senator Merkley saw Republican support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as precedent-setting and an indicator that the Equality Act may indeed also garner bi-partisan votes if it reaches the floor. “We will continue in the same fashion,” he replied. “This is the starting point on the journey for a comprehensive vision to end discrimination for the LGBT community in America.”
There was plenty of repetitive rhetoric about gay couples getting married one day, posting Facebook pictures the next, then showing up to work and getting shown the door instead. And there was some amusing stumbling over references to announcing LGBT legislation in the LBJ room. But in end, the afternoon belonged to Lewis, as his voice alternately crescendoed, then dropped to a whisper.
“This legislation is what justice requires, this legislation in what justice demands,” boomed Lewis, “and like the recent Supreme Court decision, it is long…over…due,” he said, his voice dropping low as he stretched out the emphatic last three syllables.” It was lost on no one that Lewis, who marched with Martin Luther King in Selma, was an important historical bridge in the long civil rights struggle.
“We believe then as we do now that we are a society committed to the concept of equal justice under the law,” Lewis said. “I’ve said it in the past and I’ll say it again, we fought too hard and too long against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The room erupted in applause, but Lewis wasn’t done. “I believe in my heart of hearts that we must come together and truly create one nation, one people, one family, one house, the American house, the people’s house,” Lewis continued. “A country that is free of hate, free of fear, and committed to love, understanding and respecting the dignity and worth of every human being. It is our calling, it is our mission. Let’s pass legislation and do the right thing.”
In the GOP Congress, passing the Equality Act remains a real long-shot. “There is no question that we have made great progress in advancing the rights for LGBT communities,” avowed Merkley. “But as long as people are afraid to put their spouse’s photo on their desk at work; as long as they are worried about being evicted from their apartment if they don’t pretend to be just roommates, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Cicilline agreed. ”Discrimination and intolerance should have no place in the United States of America in 2015 and it’s time for Congress to stand up and prohibit discrimination against someone because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” Cicilline said. Then he quoted LBJ who said, a year before signing the Civil Rights Act: “We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights, we have talked for more than a hundred years. It is time now to write the next chapter and to write it into the books of law.” It was a natural segue. “My friends,” said Cicilline, “the time has come for us to stop talking about full equality for LGBT people and start writing the next chapter into the books of law.”