Norton Celebrates House Passage of the Equality Act

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) celebrated today's House passage of the Equality Act. Norton is an original cosponsor of the bill, which would prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations, federally funded programs and federal jury service. Equality for all Americans has long been a signature issue for Norton, but her work for equal treatment for LGBTQ people has long held even greater significance because congressional opponents of equality for LGBTQ people have used the District of Columbia's unique status as a weapon against LGBTQ people in D.C. For example, Norton defeated repeated attempts to block D.C.'s marriage equality law.

"Today's Equality Act passage gives me special joy," Norton said. "This bill fills a large space I have tried to fill ever since being elected to Congress. My work for the LGBTQ community has come naturally. As a lifelong fighter for equal rights, I saw congressional failure to address discrimination against the LGBTQ community as no different than congressional failure to bar segregation in the public schools I attended as a child in the District, or to address discrimination in voting rights and public accommodations I went to Mississippi to fight as a student in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

"The Equality Act is uniquely comprehensive. Historically, when Congress has passed civil rights legislation, it typically has done so by category, whether in employment, or housing, or the rest. However, the Equality Act encompasses all forms of typical discrimination and sends a special message. It is too late for anything except legislation that takes on discrimination against our LGBTQ community once and for all."

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