Equality Act Passes House, Receives Hearing Before Senate Judiciary Committee

January 11, 2022

2021 was marked by significant federal protections for LGBTQ Americans.

In his first week in office, President Joe Biden applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County across the federal government to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people in federal employment and services. He also overturned the ban on transgender people serving in the military. By the 100th day of his presidency, more than 200 LGBTQ people had been nominated or appointed for federal positions, the most for any administration in history.

Following decades of public education and growing support for nationwide nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, the Equality Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in a bipartisan vote for the second time, and it received its first-ever hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, bringing the possibility of equal opportunity for all Americans closer to reality. In the midst of unprecedented attacks on transgender youth gaining traction in state legislatures, the LGBTQ movement and its allies found hope in the next generation: Stella Keating, a representative from grantee GenderCool, became the first trans teen to ever testify in front of the Senate and received national attention for her grace, optimism, and vision for a country where all are treated equally under the law.