GOP’s Chip Roy vows to fight Equality Act in court

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Thursday vowed to oppose the Equality Act in court shortly before a House vote on the legislation, saying it would damage religious freedom.

The Equality Act would would expand on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act by adding protections for LGBTQ Americans.

Roy, standing with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus in front of the U.S. Capitol, said the legislation was “trampling on the rights of the American people in the name of equality in the false name of equality.”

“This is a government using its power to tell us to bow down to the will of a cultural elite in this town who want to tell us what we’re supposed to believe. We’re not going to do that.”

Rep Roy’s full remarks at today’s @FreedomCaucus press conference on the Equality Act: pic.twitter.com/RPIbzdSMwv

— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) February 25, 2021

Roy argued the legislation would run over the rights of people who for reasons of religion do not agree with extending protections to gay and transgender Americans.

He and others opposed to the legislation in particular have criticized the law’s prohibition on facilities that receive federal funding from blocking transgender people from restrooms that align with their gender identity.

“We are going to keep fighting it in the courts and beyond,” Roy said.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), who was present with Roy at his address, has come out strongly opposed to the Equality Act, engaging in a growing feud with Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.), whose daughter is transgender. Newman placed a transgender equality flag outside her office on Wednesday to which Greene responded by putting up a sign outside her office that read, “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE. ‘Trust The Science!’ ”

The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of “sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity” in public spaces such as facilities that receive federal funding as well as places of education and employment.

The bill would also prohibit individuals from being blocked from shared spaces that align with their gender identity such as restrooms and locker rooms.

President Biden has put his support behind the bill, urging Congress last week to swiftly pass it.

“Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all,” Biden said in a statement.