WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a call to pass the Equality Act last month, today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced her co-sponsorship of the Fair Housing and Equity Act. The bill would ensure fair housing by providing non-discrimination protections for members of the LGBTQ community.
“No one should be denied the opportunity for a home because of who that person loves or how that person self-identifies,” said Senator Rosen. “This legislation will help to ensure that all people have equal access to housing. I will continue to support legislation that makes housing more accessible and helps to create a more equal society.”
BACKGROUND: This bill adds “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected characteristics under the Fair Housing Act, which currently prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin. Currently, 21 states and the District of Columbia include sexual orientation and gender identity to the Fair Housing Act’s protected classes. Nevada is one of these states.
Earlier this year, Senator Rosen helped introduce the Equality Act, legislation which explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, jury service, public accommodations, and the use of federal funds.
Last Congress, then-Congresswoman Rosen was a co-sponsor of this legislation.
Senator Rosen has been a staunch ally of LGBTQ Americans since coming to Congress, receiving perfect scores from the Human Rights Campaign each year she has been in office. In addition to co-sponsoring the Equality Act, in the House Senator Rosen was an original co-sponsor of legislation to prohibit the advertising and practice of for-profit LGBTQ conversion therapy and a bill placing sanctions on foreign individuals complicit in human rights abuses against members of the LGBTQ community. She was also a co-sponsor of the Do No Harm Act (H.R. 3222), which would ensure that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act cannot be used as a shield to allow companies to discriminate against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
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