A new poll released Tuesday found
overwhelming support for the Equality Act.
The legislation cleared the House last
month and is currently being considered in the Senate. Passage is a
priority for the Biden administration.
The Equality Act seeks to add sexual
orientation and gender identity to current civil rights laws.
According to an online survey of 1,005
voters across the country conducted by the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, and Hart Research
Associates, seven in ten voters support passage of the Equality Act.
“In poll after poll, we see that
Americans overwhelmingly believe that LGBTQ people should be able to
live free from fear of harassment and discrimination by guaranteeing
the same federal anti-discrimination protections that other Americans
have enjoyed for decades,” HRC President Alphonso David said in a
statement. “The Equality Act is supported by a bipartisan majority
of voters, the business community, faith and civil rights leaders,
and communities in virtually every corner of the nation. It’s time
for the Senate to catch up to the American public and finally pass
the Equality Act so that all Americans can be treated equally in the
eyes of the law.”
The Equality Act is needed because a
majority of states (29) do not have laws that explicitly protect
people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
While Democrats strongly favor (88%)
passage, Republicans and white evangelicals are divided at 50
percent.
A majority of voters (53%) said that
they would feel more favorable toward their member of Congress if they
were to vote in favor of the Equality Act; Twenty-two percent said it
would make them feel less favorable.
The
poll was conducted from March 12 to 15 and has a +/-3.1% margin
of error.