Last week, the hotly-contested Equality Act came back under the purview of political officials. Conversations about the Equality Act, an extension of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, have been like a game of table tennis between Democrat and Republican officeholders. President Biden serves as the face of the pro-equality act team while the bill passes through the senate. Variations of the bill have been proposed since the 1970s to fill the gaps in the original Civil Rights Act, but none have been passed through the house until 2021. The 2021 passage was ignited by a SCOTUS case in 2020, where justices affirmed that discrimination based on sexuality or gender is illegal and unconstitutional. This concept is left unclear in the initial act, but, with the steady incline of individuals identifying as LGBTQ+, the distinction is necessary.
Congress members identified this grey area as a need to define protections for women and the LBGTQ+ community. As of 2023, LGBTQ+ and women's rights have been threatened and infringed upon by Republican lawmakers. With the Dobbs decision in 2022 and the many anti-drag laws, the US has been categorized by other nations as a place where women and gender-nonconforming individuals are at an increased risk for violence and discrimination. This act, as it moves through the Senate, would be considered a landmark act for the protection of women and the LGBTQ+. Representative Mark Takano claims to introduce this act during the 118th Congress and during Women's History Month (and rights before Trans Visibility Day).
Unfortunately, Twitter trolls are not for the codifying of anti-discriminatory legislation. In fact, many on the opposing side of the President believe that this act will harm women (one of the main groups the act claims to protect). Along with many conservative politicians, the majority of Twitter users under this specific post by the President believe that "real women" are disappearing or they will be more vulnerable to attacks from LGBTQ+ people. This has added additional drama to the constant debate on whether Transgender people should be free to exist, whether they are entitled to play sports, and what bathrooms they should use.
The debate on the passage of the Equal Rights Act has had even more fuel due to the recent mass school shooting, conducted by a transgender man. While Democrats have been focusing on the need to restrict gun access so that mass shooters will have less access to weapons, Republicans have been using this as an example to justify their bans on the existence of gender-nonconforming individuals.
https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/17-1618
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5/text
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1642225316994203651
Hey Madison!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, it was very informative of the new equality right. I also enjoyed you putting the original tweet along with some of the comments showing how the public has been reacting to it. It is a delicate topic, I personally am for equal rights for everyone. I believe its time to progress some countries have adapted faster than we have with the gender identity and LGBTQ+ rights.