US1 min(s) read
Published 17:35 29 Oct 2020 GMT
Joe Biden has promised to make passing LGBTQ rights legislation known as the Equality Act a priority, per NBC News.
In fact, the Democratic presidential candidate plans to pass the civil rights law within the first 100 days if he wins the election on Tuesday, November 3.
Biden, who was known to speak out on issues affecting LGBTQ people as vice president in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017, also pledged in an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News to also make LGBTQ rights a priority in terms of international diplomacy as well.
This was the moment Joe Biden announced his presidential run:
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Biden has spoken about the Equality Act before, but given other urgent issues such as COVID-19, it is a significant move that he is pledging to focus on the rights of the LGBTQ community in the early days of his Presidency - in the event that he wins the election next month.
In an email interview with Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal, an advocate for LGBTQ rights, he laid out his plans for legislation.
"I will make enactment of the Equality Act a top legislative priority during my first 100 days - a priority that Donald Trump opposes," Biden said of his Republican counterpart.
The Trump administration had opposed the Equality Act, saying it would "undermine parental and conscience rights."
The Equality Act was passed by the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives in 2019, but was stalled in the Republican-led Senate.
Biden requires Democrats to hold the House and to take over control of the Senate to make sure the legislation is passed.
Under the Equality Act, American citizens would be protected from discrimination based on their sexual identity and gender identity through an amendment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act bans discrimination based on race, religion, sex, and national origin.
Furthermore, Biden also pledged to defend US diplomats who speak out in favor of LGBTQ rights in countries that discriminate against LGBTQ people and pledged to use "America’s full range of diplomatic tools".
"I’ll stand up to bullies and once more put human rights at the center of America’s engagement with the world," Biden said.
