Pelosi Joins More than 100 Members of Congress on Amicus Brief in Support of LGBT Equality

San Francisco – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement on a bicameral amicus brief of 105 Members of Congress and 23 Senators in the case of Christiansen v. Omnicom Group urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to hold that discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity constitutes sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act:

"Today, more than 100 Members of the House and Senate called on a federal appellate court to recognize that the protections of the Civil Rights Act must include people facing discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Such an approach has been adopted by the expert federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, combatting discrimination in the workplace.

"No person should suffer discrimination because of who they are or who they love. We must ensure that LGBT people have the full protection of the law in the workplace – and everyplace. That's why the Congress must also pass the Equality Act, to finally end discrimination in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service, and public accommodation for LGBT people by asserting the full power of the Civil Rights Act that guards our democracy.

"Shamefully, again and again, Republicans in statehouses and in the Congress have tried to advance an agenda of discrimination with laws that target LGBT Americans and undermine their hard-won rights and protections. In the Courts and in the Congress, we must make clear that an agenda of hate and discrimination has no place in America – neither in our schools nor communities, neither in our places of business nor places of employment, not anywhere."