President Joe Biden's promise for a law that guarantees LGBTQ Americans protection from discrimination has stalled in the Senate.

The Equality Act seeks to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The law currently protects against discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

The proposal applies to employment, education, housing, credit, jury service and programs that receive federal funding and public accommodations (such as retail stores).

The House passed the proposal in February 2021 with the support of 221 Democrats and three Republicans. In the Senate, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee in February 2021 but never got a vote. 

The House and Senate passed legislation in the final weeks of 2022 that recognizes same-sex marriage. The Respect for Marriage Act replaces provisions in federal law that define marriage as between a man and a woman and recognizes any marriage between two individuals that is valid under state law. 

The marriage bill passed amid fears that the U.S. Supreme Court could seek to nullify same-sex marriage. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his June concurrence in the case overturning Roe v. Wade that future cases should reconsider the court's precedents, including the 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage. 

Biden praised the Respect for Marriage Act. But the more expansive Equality Act legislation has languished. Similar versions of the bill also failed to pass previous Congresses.

David Stacy, the government affairs director for the Human Rights Campaign, said public support for LGBTQ rights continues to rise. "The bipartisan support for the Respect for Marriage Act is yet another sign that there's an increasing appetite for enshrining protections for LGBTQ people in the law," he said.

But so far, we find no signs that the Senate will take up the legislation.

We rate this promise Stalled.

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President Joe Biden's promise for a new law that guarantees LGBTQ Americans protection from discrimination moved forward with the House passage of the Equality Act.

The Equality Act seeks to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identiy and sexual orientation. The law currently protects against discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The proposal applies to employment, education, housing, credit, jury service and programs that receive federal funding and public accommodations (such as retail stores).

The Equality Act would supersede the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law intended to protect religious practices from government interference. (The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1997 that the federal law did not apply to states, prompting some states to pass their own version of the law.) 

The House passed the proposal in February with the support of 221 Democrats and three Republicans, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he will bring the legislation to a vote on the Senate floor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hold a hearing on the legislation March 17. Whether the Equality Act gets enough support in the Senate is uncertain. The bill would need the support of at least 60 senators to break a filibuster, any legislative attempt to block or delay Senate action on the bill.

There's a push in Congress toward Biden's promise of enacting the Equality Act. Pending a Senate vote on the proposal, we rate this promise In the Works.