WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) joined colleagues in introducing the Equality Act of 2017, which would add to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in all of the same areas of life that protect Americans on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin.

“We must end discrimination in all forms and I’ll fight until we achieve full equality under the law for all Americans, including members of the LGBTQ communities,” said Rep. Norcross. “No American should live in fear and every American should have a legal option when discrimination or harassment occurs. Diversity is America’s strength and compassion is our value; the Equality Act is a clear necessity, since it would, under law, protect millions of Americans.”

"We have worked hard to protect the LGBT community here in New Jersey," said Christian Fuscarino, Garden State Equality Executive Director. "But our brothers and sisters across the nation continue to struggle under the misguided, ill-informed, and outdated mindsets of bigoted state governments who continue to strip away the rights of the LGBT community. Those folks would do well to look at New Jersey's federal leadership, because they are doing everything within their power to ensure that LGBT people are protected equally under the law, from the Jersey Shore to the Golden Gate."

Norcross was a sponsor of the Equality Act in the 114^th Congress and, this year, joins Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Co-Chair David N. Cicilline (D-RI), along with more than 190 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives.

About The Equality Act

Despite significant advances, LGBT people across the country remain vulnerable to discrimination. In many states, same-sex couples now have the right to marry (because of national law), but receive no explicit non-discrimination protections. This means that a same-sex couple could legally marry one day and risk being fired from their jobs, evicted from their apartment or kicked out of a restaurant the next day – simply because of who they are.

The Equality Act ensures that the same protections already extended to other protected classes are equally available to LGBT Americans. It amends existing federal civil rights laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, Federal jury service, public accommodations, and the use of Federal funds.

In some of these areas, federal law prohibiting sex discrimination has already been properly interpreted by federal courts and administrative agencies to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Equality Act affirms that understanding of existing law and makes the prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity explicit, in order to provide greater clarity to members of the public, employers, schools, businesses and other affected parties. In areas where sex discrimination is not already prohibited, the bill amends existing law to bar discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as sexual orientation, and gender identity.

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Contact: Ally Kehoe, Communications Director
ally.kehoe@mail.house.gov