WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is expected to introduce H.R. 5, also called the “Equality Act,” a bill which would change current civil rights law to include “sexual orientation and gender identity” as protected classes. Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed in January that passing the bill in the 116th Congress would be a priority of House Democrats.

In response, Terry Schilling, executive director of American Principles Project, released the following statement:

“Forcing young girls to shower with men. Telling abused women they have to room with men in battered women’s shelters. Allowing men to compete against — and typically beat — women in women’s sporting events. This is what ‘equality’ looks like as defined by the radical Left. This is what ‘equality’ would look like under the so-called ‘Equality’ Act.

“The ‘Equality’ Act would make sweeping changes to our civil rights laws that would have significant impacts on every area of American society, replacing our cherished values of freedom and liberty with intimidation and authoritarianism. For example, while Americans are still strongly divided on the question of gender identity, with 54 percent of Americans saying they believe a person is a man or a woman based on birth sex, this law would effectively criminalize the position of the majority.

“The reality is that this bill isn’t about equality — it’s about enshrining supremacy into the law for one ideology over another. And the result will be the widespread erasure of women, prohibition of dissent, and sexualization of children.

“The ‘Equality’ Act is wrongheaded policy on every level, and we urge all members of Congress to reject it.”

Click here to learn more about why the Equality Act is bad policy.

To schedule an interview with Terry Schilling, contact Paul Dupont at (o) 202-503-2010 or pdupont@americanprinciplesproject.org.