House Passes 'Equality Act' to End Legal Recognition of Biological Sex

The House passed House Passes Equality Act to End Legal Recognition of Biological Sex Equality Act Thursday, which would eliminate the legal definition of biological sex, cater to gender ideology, and designate protection for the unborn as “pregnancy” discrimination.

The House passed H.R. 5, the Equality Act, 224-206. Three Republicans voted for the legislation.

The legislation would rewrite civil rights law to include “sexual orientation and gender identity” as protected classes.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who voted against the legislation, decried the bill as attacking religious freedom, said on the House floor before the vote, “What this bill, the so-called Equality Act, is really about, it’s not about giving rights, this is about taking away rights. This is saying that part of the First Amendment that states, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;’ that’s gotta go!”

He also said at a Freedom Caucus press conference Thursday:

You don’t have to take our word for it. Let me just read this from page 25 of the bill: The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 shall not provide a claim concerning, or a defense to a claim under, a covered title, or provide a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of a covered title,” said the Congressman at the press conference. “What’s worse: it doesn’t mention what it eviscerates really, and that is the First Amendment.

Ryan Anderson, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), said in a statement last week, “The so-called Equality Act is legislative malpractice that turns equality on its head. It isn’t drafted as a shield to protect vulnerable minorities from unjust discrimination, but as a sword to persecute those who do not embrace new sexual and gender ideologies.”