Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon announced Wednesday that he plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming Congress that would protect LGBT citizens from a broad range of discriminations. He did not specify which areas would be covered but they will likely include things like employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, and federal funding.
"All of us are engaged in a battle to make 'We the people' more inclusive in our freedoms, more perfect," Merkley said, playing off wording from a decision written by Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Bostic v. Schaefer. The bill is still being created and Merkley said it will contain a religious exemption that would track "identically" to the provisions that are currently in place for discrimination on race. That appears to mean the exemption would follow the one included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the letter.
The LGBT group GetEQUAL welcomed Merkley's statement on the narrower religious exemption. "GetEQUAL will be sure to hold him to that, and to ensure that the bill he introduces is fully comprehensive for all LGBTQ Americans," said Heather Cronk, co-director of the organization. GetEQUAL is conducting an online survey of what areas people think need to be covered.
Last year, most LGBT groups pulled their support from a long sought-after employment protections bill (ENDA) after concluding that its religious exemption was too broad. Before they scrapped it, however, the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support in 2013 by a vote of 64-32.
Merkley was also asked by Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade whether the bill might simply amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to include LGBT protections. "That certainly is a possible strategy," he responded, adding that multiple possibilities are under consideration.
At the event, which was held at the Center for American Progress in Washington, CAP released a new report outlining the discrimination that LGBT Americans face in all areas of their lives. The need for a broad civil rights bill at the federal level is becoming even more clear as anti-gay conservatives work to either narrow or block discrimination protections for LGBT people.
On Tuesday, Fayetteville, AR, voters repealed a civil rights ordinance that had been enacted by the city council in August. From the Fayetteville Flyer:
The decision came during a special election called by petitioners who sought to repeal the new ordinance, which prohibits business owners and landlords from unjustly firing or evicting someone because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic background, marital status, or veteran status.
Last week, Michigan lawmakers in the state House
passed a bill that would ensure the right of religious conservatives to discriminate against LGBT people.