News & Commentary

CONTACT: Mia Jacobs, 201-919-0333, mjacobs@aclu.orgWASHINGTON — Nearly 300 members of Congress from both chambers introduced the Equality Act today, legislation that would explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the nation’s federal civil rights laws.The Equality Act would provide comprehensive sex discrimination protections, including from discrimination by businesses and federally funded programs. The Equality Act also clarifies that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) cannot be used in civil rights contexts, prohibiting religious liberty — which is a core American value — from being used as a license to discriminate. If passed, it would be the first law to ensure LGBTQ people are covered by consistent, explicit, and nationwide non-discrimination protections in employment, housing, and access to public spaces and services.The bill would also close significant gaps in our federal civil rights laws by ensuring that all businesses, including retail establishments and transportation providers, are covered under laws that bar discrimination by businesses open to the public — making it, for the first time under federal law, illegal to discriminate against individuals for “shopping while Black” or “flying while brown.”Ronald Newman, national political director at the American Civil Liberties Union, had the following response:“For too long, the constitutional principle of ‘equality under the law’ has been an elusive promise for many individuals across the country. Nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ Americans report having experienced discrimination in their everyday lives. People of color are improperly suspected of wrongdoing in public spaces and when accessing publicly available services. And for people who live at the intersections of multiple targeted identities—particularly queer and transgender people of color — discrimination is a persistent and painful daily reality.“This is why we need the Equality Act: to ensure LGBTQ people are explicitly covered by existing civil rights laws, and to strengthen protections for all people, including women, religious minorities, and people of color. No one should be prohibited from fully participating in public life due to their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or race. The ACLU looks forward to working with Congress to give everyone a chance to support themselves, provide for their family, and live their lives free from harassment and discrimination.”This release can be found online here: https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-applauds-introduction-equality-act-close-gaps-federal-non-discrimination-protections

UPDATE 3/7/2019:

By Nicole Zayas Fortier, Policy Counsel, ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice

"The ACLU of Mississippi will continue to advocate for gender equity in Mississippi. Women's rights are constitutional rights. Women should not have to demand pay equity, nor should women have to demand for access to comprehensive, quality, affordable, and confidential reproductive healthcare. Women in Mississippi should not forced to go to court or to beg for equal treatment under the law. It's time that Mississippi stop playing games with women, and institute reforms that prohibit discrimination and advance progress."

“Rep. Mark Baker is advocating for the reinstatement of administrative asset forfeiture. His efforts to boost civil forfeiture are part of an agenda to bring back the failed and racist War on Drugs, where this and other ineffective, unjust practices were widely used. While civil forfeiture falls on communities of color that may subject to over policing, we are not talking about people who have committed crimes. We are talking about everyday people who have had their homes, cars, money, and other property taken through civil forfeiture, which requires only mere suspicion that the property is connected to a crime. 

The following statement may be attributed to ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director Jennifer Riley Collins:

Governor Bryant’s 2019 State of the State address painted a rosy picture of a state that has moved far beyond its dark past. The dramatic racial and economic disparities in our state reveal the fact that we have not come far enough.

By Udi Ofer, Deputy National Political Director and Director of Campaign for Smart Justice, ACLU

By Madhuri Grewal, Federal Immigration Policy Counsel, ACLU National Political Advocacy Department & Chris Rickerd, Policy Counsel, ACLU National Political Advocacy Department