State of the Rainbow

There have been multiple bills introduced in Congress over the years to protect the LGBTQ community from various forms of discrimination. Every two years they have to be reintroduced if they’re not passed. Some of the ones to focus on are the following:

H.R. 5 “The Equality Act”

The Equality Act is a bill passed by the United States House of Representatives on May 17, 2019 that would amend the Civil Rights Act to "prohibit discrimination on the basis of the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition of an individual, as well as because of sex-based stereotypes." The United States Senate received the bill for consideration on May 20, 2019.

H.R.1856 “Ending Homelessness Act”

Introduced 03/25/2019 to provide a path to end homelessness in the United States, and for other purposes.

H.R.1585 “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019”

Introduced 03/07/2019 to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, and for other purposes.

S.2259 “Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2019”

Introduced 07/24/2019 to amend the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to make improvements.

H.R.3280 “LGBTQ Essential Data Act”

Introduced 06/13/2019 to provide a requirement to improve data collection efforts.

S.2043 “Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act”

Introduced 06/27/2019 to provide incentives for hate crime reporting, provide grants for State-run hate crime hotlines, and establish alternative sentencing for individuals convicted under the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

S.2355 “End of Racial and Religious Profiling Act”

Introduced 07/31/2019 to eliminate racial, religious, and other discriminatory profiling by law enforcement, and for other purposes.

H.R.2708 “Disarm Hate Act”

Introduced 05/14/2019 to prevent a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor because of hate or bias in its commission, from obtaining a firearm.

H.R.3750 “Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act”

Introduced 06/27/2019, this bill prohibits commercial conversion therapy, which is a practice or treatment designed to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or otherwise change behaviors, thoughts, or expressions related to gender or sexual attraction. This prohibition does not apply to treatment that assists an individual undergoing a gender transition or facilitates identity exploration and development.

H.R.3509 “LGBTQ Data Inclusion Act”

Introduced 06/29/2019, this bill requires federal agencies that collect information through a survey that includes demographic data (where subjects self-report information or a proxy provides information about the subject or responds for all persons in a household) to review existing data sets to determine in which data sets information about sexual orientation and gender identity is not included, and to assess needed changes in survey methods related to asking questions on sexual orientation and gender identity.

H.R.3874 “Greater Leadership Overseas for the Benefit of Equality Act of 2019”

Introduced 07/22/2019 to protect human rights and enhance opportunities for LGBTI people around the world, and for other purposes.

 Transgender Service Members

For decades, transgender people were prohibited from serving openly in the U.S. military based on outdated and discriminatory medical standards. However, following a year-long intensive working group studying the “policy and readiness implications,” the Pentagon lifted the ban on transgender people serving openly in the U.S. military on June 30, 2016, acknowledging that it is in the military’s best interest to recruit and retain the best troops, regardless of their gender identity.

Trump-Pence Transgender Military Ban

On July 26, 2017, President Trump posted a series of tweets in the early morning hours announcing that “the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” The unexpected and callous tweets were swiftly and widely condemned, including by more than 56 retired generals and admirals, as well as prominent Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. A month after the initial tweets, President Trump issued a formal memorandum detailing the ban and directing Secretary of Defense James Mattis to produce implementation recommendations, which he did in March 2018.

Soon after the announcement of the ban, multiple lawsuits were filed challenging its constitutionality. In response, several federal courts issued injunctions preventing the Trump-Pence Administration from implementing the ban while the cases proceed.  However, on January 22, 2019, the Supreme Court lifted the injunctions, allowing the Department of Defense to implement the ban while litigation continues, without issuing a ruling on the ban itself. The Administration began implementing the ban on April 12, 2019.

While the Pentagon has falsely claimed that the ban is not about transgender people, but instead gender dysphoria, the Mattis Implementation Report is a complete ban on transgender military service. It would prohibit transgender people from joining the military, and it would prohibit anyone currently in the military from transitioning genders. While the small group of transgender troops who came out after the ban was lifted in 2016 would not be immediately discharged, they are being forced to serve under a cloud of stigma.

Fit to Serve

Transgender troops have been serving openly and successfully since 2016, including hundreds who have deployed to combat zones. The Chiefs of Staff to each military branch have testified that there have been no negative impact on readiness. Additionally, data obtained by the Pentagon has shown that the cost of providing medical care to transgender troops has been miniscule. The American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, and American Psychiatric Association all oppose the ban, stating that there is no medical reason transgender troops should be barred from serving.

The policy allowing transgender troops to serve openly did not grant any special exceptions. Transgender service members were held to the exact same rigorous standards as every other service member. They simply were no longer arbitrarily barred from service because of their gender identity.

Polling shows that the majority of Americans in every state and the District of Columbia oppose the Trump-Pence discriminatory ban and support transgender people serving openly in the military.

Legislation

Several pieces of legislation have been introduced to reject the Trump-Pence ban on transgender military service.

Bipartisan legislation (S. 373 / H.R. 1032) to end the transgender military ban was introduced in February 2019 by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jack Reed (D-RI) in the Senate and by Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA), Joe Kennedy (D-MA), John Katko (R-NY), Susan Davis (D-CA) and Anthony Brown (D-MD) in the House. This legislation would prohibit the military from discharging service members or rejecting military recruits solely because of their gender identity.

Additionally, Representative Joe Kennedy (D-MA) introduced a resolution (H.Res. 124) rejecting the Trump-Pence transgender military ban and urging the Department of Defense not to implement the discriminatory policy. This resolution passed the House on March 28, 2019.

An amendment introduced by Representative Jackie Speier was also added to the House FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2500) that would end the ban on transgender service and codify non-discrimination protections for service members. While the House-passed NDAA included the Speier amendment, it was not included in the final version that was signed into law.