lavendergreens

Click on this link to Sign our H.R.5 Petition and ask your US Senators to Vote Yes: https://monthlypetitions.good.do/SupportEqualityAct/

Hello Lavenders and Greens around the world, thank you for taking some time to read our petition.

As many of you may know, on Feb 25th, 2021, the U.S. House passed H.R.5 – the Equality Act – 224 to 206, with three Republicans voting “yes.” This bill was first passed by the House in 2019 however the then-Republican controlled Senate refused to consider it and the Trump administration expressed its opposition.

In 2020, the Supreme Court issued a ruling stating that the protections guaranteed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act on the basis of sex extended to the discrimination against LGBTQ Americans. The Equality Act would explicitly set those protections for people based on orientation and gender identity, as opposed to have those safeguards included under the umbrella term “sex.”

The Equality Act is the latest incarnation of a series of bills seeking to enshrine equal protection for LGBTQIA folks (of various types) under our nation's laws, dating back to 1974, and specifically, dating back to 1994 in the form of the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" aka "ENDA". Which, specifically, did not include transgender individuals until 2007 (a decision which, famously, was reversed that same year in an attempt to pass what was known as a "non-inclusive" version, but still failed). "ENDA" was a narrow bill only encompassing employment protections which the Equality Act (introduced in 2015) replaces with a more comprehensive set of protections. The Supreme Court has since ruled, in 2020, that queer Americans cannot be discriminated against in employment under the 1964 Civil Rights Act on the basis of sex, but that ruling left many other rights still unprotected in the 29 states that do not have comprehensive and queer-inclusive anti-discrimination laws.

The Equality Act would extend protections to cover federally funded programs, employment, housing, loan applications, education and public accommodations. President Biden made passing the bill as one of his key priorities during his campaign and he issued a statement in support of the bill when it was introduced.

“Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all,” according to the President.

The Green Party has long advocated for a comprehensive and fully inclusive vision of queer civil rights. Our 2000 Platform included the following plank: "We support the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in housing, jobs, civil marriage and benefits, child custody – and in all areas of life, the right to be treated equally with all other people." The NLGC echoed and expanded on this call in our 2002 document, "A Challenge from the Lavender Greens"(1) that highlighted the many ways our party and platform differed from the then bipartisan consensus. Our current platform states: "The Green Party recognizes the full civil rights of sexual and gender minorities. The existing civil rights act prohibits discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, and disability. We will work to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to the existing civil rights act." and "The Green Party will be inclusive of language in local, state and federal anti-discrimination law that ensures the rights of intersex individuals and prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, characteristics, and expression as well as on sex, gender, or sexual orientation. We are opposed to non-consenting intersex genital surgery."

(1) "A challenge from the Lavender Greens" - https://web.archive.org/web/20021015105934/http:/www.lavendergreens.org/wiki/wiki?Challenge

The bill is likely to face a difficult challenge in the Senate, which is evenly divided 50/50 between Republicans and Democrats. The bill will require 60 votes to advance in the Senate and it’s not clear if there are 10 Republican Senators who will support the legislation.

This is where we need your help.

We need you to contact your State's U.S. Senators (using this platform) to express your support for the passage of H.R.5.

By using the provided links you will send a message to your State's U.S. Senator asking them to support the principles of freedom and equality that Green Parties all over the world have advocated for since their inception.

Sign here: https://monthlypetitions.good.do/SupportEqualityAct/