Florida Senator Bill Nelson on Monday
quietly became the latest member of Congress to co-sponsor the
Equality Act.
Introduced last year, the Equality Act
seeks to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in seven key areas,
including credit, education, employment, federal funding, housing,
jury service and public accommodations, by effectively expanding the
Civil Rights Act, originally approved in 1964.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, thanked Nelson, a Democrat,
for his support.
“In the tragedy of Orlando, there
were survivors who worried first for their lives and second for their
jobs,” said HRC spokesman Jay Brown in a statement given to the
Washington
Blade. “The reality is LGBTQ people still lack explicit
federal non-discrimination protections when it comes to our jobs, our
housing, our education and more. The Equality Act would change that
and we’re grateful for Sen. Nelson’s support for the bill and
LGBTQ Floridians.”
Last week, Florida Representative
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen became the latest Republican to co-sponsor the
legislation.
(Related: GOP
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen meets with Caitlyn Jenner; co-sponsors
Equality Act.)