Source: Bloomberg / Getty
A bill designed to provide protection against discrimination based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation advanced in the House on Thursday, but not without resistance led by anti-LGBTQ Republicans.
According to the historic legislation’s language, the Equality Act prohibits discrimination “on the basis of the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition of an individual, as well as because of sex-based stereotypes.”
The fact that anybody would be opposed to such a law was inexplicable to Texas Rep. Al Green, who, during the period when lawmakers addressed the Equality Act on the House floor, made it clear how he felt about his Republican colleagues who had already announced their intentions against voting for the bill.
Referencing various forms of discrimination his ancestors had to face as Black people in America, Green publicly questioned Republicans’ beliefs and morals.
Opening with his usual nod to Maya Angelow, Green began, “And still I rise, Mr. Speaker,” after he was introduced. Then Green got right down to business calling out Republicans.
“You used God to enslave my foreparents. You used God to segregate me in schools. You used God to put me in the back of the bus. Have you no shame? God created every person in this room. Are you saying that God made a mistake? This is not about God, it’s about men who choose to discriminate against other people because they have the power to do so,” Green stated.
Referencing Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, an openly gay Democrat who helped introduce the Equality Act last week, Green said history would remember Republicans opposing the bill in this pivotal moment of progress in the country they claim to love so much.
“My record will not show that I voted against Mr. Cicilline having his rights,” Greene continued. “My record will show that when I had the opportunity to deliver liberty and justice for all, I voted for rights for all.”
Watch Green deliver those forceful and compelling words on the House floor.
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Rep. Al Green Blasts Republicans Voting Against ‘Equality’ For LGBTQ: ‘Have You No Shame?’ was originally published on newsone.com
