Joe Biden introduced his LGBTQ rights agenda in an email interview. (FILE)
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has pledged to make passing the LGBTQ rights law known as the Equality Act a top priority, hoping to sign what would be landmark legislation on civil rights within 100 days if he wins Tuesday’s election.
Biden, a leading voice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights as vice president under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, also pledged in an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News to expand the rights homosexuals internationally by making equality a centerpiece of U.S. diplomacy should he win the election and take office in January.
Biden has championed the equality law before, but his priority on the issue is important given the urgency of the coronavirus pandemic and a host of other executive orders and regulatory measures that would compete to attract the attention in the early days of a Biden administration.
He laid out his agenda for LGBTQ rights in an email interview with Philadelphia Gay News editor Mark Segal, a nationally recognized gay rights advocate since the 1970s.
“I will make enacting the Equality Act a legislative priority in my first 100 days – a priority that Donald Trump opposes,” Biden said of the Republican president he challenges.
The Trump administration opposed the equality law, saying it would “infringe parental and conscience rights,” and also restricted gay rights in the name of religious freedom. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Biden’s interview.
The Democratic-led US House of Representatives passed the Equality Act in 2019, but the legislation is stuck in the Republican-controlled Senate. Biden would need Democrats to hold the House and take control of the Senate to secure passage.
The Equality Act would protect American citizens from discrimination based on gender identity and gender identity by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964, one of the civil rights movement’s most revered achievements, which prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, sex and national origin. .
Internationally, Biden also pledged to stand up for U.S. diplomats who advocate for LGBTQ rights in countries hostile to queer people and pledged to use “the full range of U.S. diplomatic tools,” including private diplomacy, public statements and United Nations agencies, promote equality.
“I will stand up to bullies and once again put human rights at the center of America’s engagement with the world,” Biden said.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
