At a Congressional Democratic press briefing on Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) spoke about the Equality Act.
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00:00Good morning everyone. The sun is shining on us today. Greetings. Welcome to the 2025 reintroduction of the Equality Act. We're here today to fight for equality, to fight for opportunity, to fight for freedom, because freedom is the right to participate fully in every aspect of our national life.
00:23Freedom is the right to live as your authentic self, without fear of harassment, or discrimination, or violence. Freedom is the right to be treated as equal with all other Americans. But right now, we're witnessing a contraction of freedom and opportunity. More than 850 anti-LGBTQ plus bills have been filed in state legislatures this year. That is a record, and we're only in April.
00:51Since day one of this administration, our authoritarian president and his lackeys have been trying to erase and endanger LGBTQ plus Americans by greenlighting discrimination against the entire community in critical aspects of daily life from healthcare to housing, with particularly vicious attacks on transgender Americans from preventing access to identity documents that reflect their gender identity,
01:20to expelling them from the military, to expelling them from the military, where they provide invaluable service to our national security. No one should be discriminated against because of who they are or whom they love.
01:33That is why we must pass the equality act. The equality act tells our LGBTQ plus people across the country, you are not alone. This is your country too, and you have the right to fully participate in our national life.
01:49The equality act says to our LGBTQ plus youth, we will stand with you, and we will fight to end the prejudice, to end the discrimination, end the bullying, so that you have the full opportunity to thrive.
02:05The equality act tells the world, we will not tolerate discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, in employment, in education, in housing or financial contracts, in mortgages, in jury duty, in restaurants, in libraries, in public accommodations.
02:23We will not tolerate discrimination in any part of American society. America's future belongs to everyone equally. All of us here today are standing shoulder to shoulder with our amazing Senate champions, Senator Baldwin, Senator Booker,
02:42Senator Booker, Leader Schumer, our outstanding House champions, Representative Takano, Representative Papa, Speaker Emerita Pelosi, Whip Clark, our tireless partner organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the Advocates for Trans Equality, and many others.
02:57We are here today to say, simply and forcefully, discrimination is wrong, equality and opportunity are right.
03:09And we will not stop until all LGBTQ plus Americans are treated as persons equal in dignity, equal in promise, and equal under the law.
03:21Thank you. I'll turn the...