File #: Res 1287-2016    Version: * Name: Equality Act (H.R.2282/S.1006)
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Committee: Committee on Civil Rights
On agenda: 11/29/2016
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling on the United States Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.2282/S.1006, the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 to include sexual orientation and gender identity as prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation with respect to employment, public accommodation and housing.
Sponsors: Daniel Dromm , Elizabeth S. Crowley, Carlos Menchaca, Margaret S. Chin, Costa G. Constantinides, Helen K. Rosenthal, Ben Kallos, Corey D. Johnson
Council Member Sponsors: 8
Attachments: 1. Res. No. 1287, 2. November 29, 2016 - Stated Meeting Agenda with Links to Files, 3. Committee Report 6/19/17, 4. Hearing Testimony 6/19/17, 5. Hearing Transcript 6/19/17, 6. Committee Report 11/29/17, 7. Hearing Transcript 11/29/17, 8. Committee Report - Stated Meeting, 9. November 30, 2017 - Stated Meeting Agenda with Links to Files, 10. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 11-30-17, 11. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - November 30, 2017
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
11/30/2017*Daniel Dromm City Council Approved, by CouncilPass Action details Meeting details Not available
11/29/2017*Daniel Dromm Committee on Civil Rights Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/29/2017*Daniel Dromm Committee on Civil Rights Approved by CommitteePass Action details Meeting details Not available
6/19/2017*Daniel Dromm Committee on Civil Rights Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
6/19/2017*Daniel Dromm Committee on Civil Rights Laid Over by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/29/2016*Daniel Dromm City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/29/2016*Daniel Dromm City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available

Res. No. 1287

 

Resolution calling on the United States Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.2282/S.1006, the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 to include sexual orientation and gender identity as prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation with respect to employment, public accommodation and housing. 

 

By Council Members Dromm, Crowley, Menchaca, Chin, Constantinides, Rosenthal, Kallos and Johnson

 

Whereas, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal statutes prohibit employers of 15 or more employees from engaging in workplace discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information;”  and

Whereas, Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain places of public accommodation from discriminating on the basis of “race, color, religion, or national origin;”  and

Whereas, The Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibits individuals from engaging in housing discrimination on the basis of “race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and the presence of children;”  and

Whereas, Absent from this list of protected classes in the Civil Rights Act is the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community; and

Whereas, According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 29 states permit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 38 permit workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identity; and

Whereas, The ACLU further reports that twenty-nine states permit discrimination in places of public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation, and thirty-two states permit discrimination in places of public accommodation on the basis of gender identity ; and

Whereas, Finally, the ACLU notes that twenty-nine states permit housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 38 permit housing discrimination on the basis of gender identity ; and

Whereas, According to a 2013 Pew Research Center study, 21% of LGBT respondents stated they were discriminated against in hiring, pay, or promotion, and in a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, 78% of transgender respondents stated they were harassed or mistreated at their workplace due to their gender identity ; and

Whereas, According to a 2011 National Center for Transgender Equality report, 53% of transgender and gender-nonconforming respondents stated they were verbally harassed in a place of public accommodation; and

Whereas, According to a 2011 National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality joint study, 19% of transgender individuals were denied housing and 11% were evicted from their homes because they were transgender ; and

Whereas, Despite the progressive laws of some states and the progressive policies of some corporations, LGBT individuals throughout the United States still suffer employment discrimination, are denied the equal utilization and access of public accommodation, and are denied access to housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; and

Whereas, H.R.2282/S.1006, also known as The Equality Act, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in employment, places of public accommodation and housing; and

Whereas, The Equality Act would also expand the categories of public accommodation that may not deny equal utilization or deny admission on the basis of “sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity” to include a greater range of places, goods and services, such as transportation; and

Whereas, The current language of the Act defines sexual orientation as “homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality” but to cover other orientations, should instead define sexual orientation as an immutable, enduring, emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people; and

Whereas, In a nation whose independence was premised on the notion that all citizens are created equal, it is unconscionable that a specific population does not enjoy the same workplace protections, equal utilization of public accommodation and access to housing as its peers simply because of the sexual orientation or gender identity of its members; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of City of New York calls on the United States Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.2282/S.1006, the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 to include sexual orientation and gender identity as prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation with respect to employment, public accommodation and housing. 

 

LS 8896

Date 11/29/2017

IM/ZH