OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Equality Act

Floor Speech

Date: May 17, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chair, and I thank my good friend, David Cicilline, for his extraordinary leadership on this incredibly important legislation.

The words, ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,'' were eloquent in their articulation but incomplete in their application.

As the legendary Barbara Jordan once observed, those words did not originally apply to African Americans; they did not apply to people of color; they did not apply to Native Americans; they did not apply to women; they did not apply to members of the LGBT community.

We have come a long way here in the United States of America, but we still have work to do.

If you truly believe in liberty and justice for all, support the Equality Act.

If you truly believe in equal protection under the law, support the Equality Act.

If you truly believe that everybody is created equal and that we are all God's children, then support the Equality Act.

Love does not discriminate, and neither should the law, regardless of sexual orientation and regardless of gender identity. It is time to support the Equality Act, and let's continue our Nation's long, necessary, and majestic march toward a more perfect Union.

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