Sheila Jackson Lee: “Does anybody know what it means to be called names; to be thrown out of your apartment; to be thrown off of a job; and…”

“Does anybody know what it means to be called names; to be thrown out of your apartment; to be thrown off of a job; and most sadly, to not be allowed to love the person that you love? In the Hodges case, that was settled when they determined that no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. And then they ruled. They asked for equal dignity in the eyes of law; the Constitution grants them that right. I rise in support of the Equality Act because I know what it means to be thrown out, to be looked at, and to be undermined. Our friends in the LGBTQ community every single day experience that. Trans women who are African American have been murdered. This gives us equal dignity under the law. We could keep a job. If you are in that community, you can be married already, obviously, but you can keep a job. You can get healthcare; you can ensure that you can keep an apartment. You can walk in dignity. We need the Equality Act as we have needed civil rights laws throughout this Nation. If we are the place of ``We the People,'' if this Nation is based upon, we the people, then we will pass the Equality Act today. We will pass it now. I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island for his leadership and the gentleman from New York. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committee on the Judiciary and an original cosponsor, I rise in strong support of H.R.…”