Rep. Chip RoyCharles (Chip) Eugene RoyHouse Conservatives Push Back Attempts To Revive Ear Tags Lawmakers Clash Over Gun Ban In Natural Resources Committee Chamber Rep. Ron Wright Dies After Contract With COVID-19 MORE (R-Texas) vowed on Thursday to oppose the Equality Act in court shortly before Parliament votes on the legislation, saying it would harm religious freedom.
The Equality Act would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act by adding protections to LGBTQ Americans.
Roy, who stood before the Capitol along with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the legislation “tramples the rights of the American people in the name of equality in the false name of equality.”
“This is a government that is using its power to tell us to bow to the will of a cultural elite in this city who wants to tell us what to believe. We’re not going to do that.”
Rep Roy’s full comments today @Caucus press conference on the Equality Act: pic.twitter.com/RPIbzdSMwv
– Rep. Chip Roy news agency (@RepChipRoy) February 25, 2021
Roy argued that the legislation would exceed the rights of people who, for religious reasons, disagree with expanding the protections of gay and transgender Americans.
In particular, he and others who oppose the legislation have criticized the law’s prohibition on facilities that receive federal funding to deny transgender access to restrooms appropriate to their gender identity.
“We will continue to fight it in the courts and beyond,” Roy said.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), Who was present with Roy at his address, is strongly opposed to the Equality Act and has entered into a growing feud with Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.), Whose daughter is transgender. Newman posted a transgender equality flag outside her office on Wednesday, to which Greene responded by putting up a sign outside her office that read, “There are TWO genders: MALE AND FEMALE.” Trust the science! “
The bill would ban discrimination based on “sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity” in public spaces, such as facilities that receive federal funding, as well as places of education and employment.
The bill would also prohibit individuals from being blocked from shared spaces that match their gender identity, such as restrooms and locker rooms.
President Biden
Joe BidenKlain on Manchin’s Objection to Neera Tanden: He’s ‘Not Answering Us in the White House’ Senators Won’t Get Timeline on Removing National Guard, Capitol Fence Overnight Defense: New Senate Armed Services Chairman Talks Pentagon Policy Nominee, Afghanistan, more | Biden reads report on Khashoggi murder | Austin Emphasizes Vaccine Safety in New Video MORE has placed its support behind the bill, urging Congress last week to pass it quickly.
“Every person must be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill is a critical step in making America live up to our fundamental values of equality and freedom for all,” Biden said in a statement.