Pride at Work Endorses the Equality Act

For Immediate Release

July 23, 2015

Contact: Jerame Davis
jdavis@prideatwork.org

Pride at Work Endorses the Equality Act

WASHINGTON, DC – Today on Capitol Hill, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Or), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) along with Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI) and John Lewis (D-GA) introduced a new bill to combat LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas. The Equality Act would update the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes among other changes. Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, issued the following statement:

“The Equality Act is a promising step toward full equality for LGBTQ people and we are very enthusiastic about its introduction. For too long, LGBTQ Americans have suffered from a hodgepodge of spotty state and local protections that have proven time and again to be inadequate and insufficient. For most LGBTQ workers, a union collective bargaining agreement has been the best and most durable protections available for decades.

“The promise of the Equality Act is that it seeks to add protections far beyond the workplace by addressing public accommodations, housing, and much more. It is a comprehensive bill that tackles most of the major areas of discrimination LGBTQ people face.

“The time for these protections is now and Pride at Work looks forward to engaging the labor community toward the passage of this bill. We call upon Congress to pass this bill with due haste.”

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Pride at Work is the official constituency group of LGBT union members and allies fighting for workplace equality for LGBT workers. We organize mutual support between the organized labor movement and the LGBT community in the spirit of the union movement’s historic motto, “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” Workers interested in joining Pride at Work or in launching new chapter organizing efforts, can visit www.prideatwork.org or email us at info@prideatwork.org.