Equality Act Senate Vote This Week – Call Your Senator!

H.R.5, the “Equality Act” could soon be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. It has been heard that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been pressing Senators to bring the bill up for a vote. This bill would modify the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in federal anti-discrimination law. The impact would be enormous:

• It would force schools (both public and private), churches, hospitals, businesses, and other institutions to recognize an individual’s “chosen gender” instead of their “biological sex.” This would force women and girls to share bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and sleeping facilities with biological men who “identify” as women.
• It would crowd women out of female athletics by forcing them to compete against biological males who identify as female.
• Medical professionals would be pressured to provide gender-affirming treatments like puberty blockers and hormones—these are irreversible decisions that have not been shown to help mental health while creating a host of permanent physical health problems.
• It would strip parents of their rights to make decisions for their children. If a parent chooses against allowing their son or daughter to receive life-altering hormonal treatments, they could lose custody.
• Parents would lose control over their child’s education. It could force public schools across the nation to incorporate transgender theory and sexual preferences into the school curriculum.

This bill is one more reason why defending the filibuster is crucial. While Democrats may pull together the needed votes to bring the bill to the floor, they cannot pass the bill without eliminating the filibuster. Heritage Action key voted NO on this bill in the House, and intends to key vote the bill if a vote occurs in the Senate.