Pappas Helps Re-Introduce Landmark Equality Act

Press Release

Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a co-chair of the House Equality Caucus, helped re-introduce the Equality Act in the 117th Congress. Pappas is an original co-sponsor of this legislation and fought to pass the bill last Congress.

This legislation amends existing civil rights statutes to provide LGBTQ Americans with the same protections all other Americans enjoy in key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, public services, and education. The Equality Act has overwhelming public support with more than 7 in 10 Americans supporting it.

"Full equality under the law. Nothing less, nothing more. That's what the Equality Act means to our LGBTQ family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues who for far too long have gone without these same legal protections guaranteed to others," said Congressman Chris Pappas. "America is only made stronger by recognizing our diversity and guaranteeing greater equality for all under the law, and the Equality Act will steer our nation closer to the promise of its founding principles. I urge my colleagues in the House to support this historic legislation."

Despite significant progress in recent years, half of LGBTQ Americans still live in states without nondiscrimination protections across all areas of life. The Equality Act remedies this by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the ­­basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, federal jury service, public accommodations, and the use of federal funds.

In May 2019, Rep. Pappas voted for the Equality Act and spoke on the House floor against a last-minute Republican procedural motion while calling on his colleagues to join him on the right side of history and support protections for all Americans.

In 2018, Rep. Pappas made history as the first openly gay person elected to represent New Hampshire in Congress.

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