IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 136 

Expressing the sense of the Congress that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 

transgender individuals should be protected from discrimination under 

the law. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK

of Massachusetts, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DEGETTE, 

Mr. DELANEY, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ESTY, Mr. FOSTER, 

Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. JACKSON

LEE, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, 

Ms. LEE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Ms. 

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, 

Ms. MOORE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL, Mr. NORCROSS, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, 

Mr. POLIS, Mr. RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN

of Ohio, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, 

Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 

TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. 

KHANNA, and Ms. SLAUGHTER) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Congress that lesbian, gay, bisexVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Feb 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\HR136.IH HR136

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•HRES 136 IH 

ual, and transgender individuals should be protected 

from discrimination under the law. 

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 

7 states ‘‘All are equal before the law and are entitled 

without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. 

All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.’’; 

Whereas many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals experience discrimination throughout the scope of 

their lives including in acquiring credit, seeking jobs, accessing public accommodations, attending school, receiving services, renting a home, and performing their civic 

duty as a juror; 

Whereas Americans of every age, every faith, every political 

party, and every socio-economic background recognize 

discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 

transgender individuals to be a serious problem; 

Whereas religious liberty and nondiscrimination laws have 

long co-existed; 

Whereas existing Federal law and recent executive actions 

provide some protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 

transgender workers, students, and Federal program recipients; 

Whereas the States of California, Colorado, Connecticut, 

Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, 

Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and 

New York (plus the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) prohibit 


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•HRES 136 IH 

discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing, and New Hampshire and Wisconsin prohibit discrimination on the basis 

of sexual orientation in employment and housing; 

Whereas the States of California, Colorado, Connecticut, 

Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode 

Island, Vermont, Washington, and Massachusetts (plus 

the District of Columbia) prohibit discrimination on the 

basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in public 

accommodations, and New Hampshire, New York, and 

Wisconsin prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual 

orientation in public accommodations; 

Whereas the States of California, Colorado, Connecticut, 

Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New 

Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington 

(plus the District of Columbia) prohibit discrimination on 

the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, and Wisconsin prohibits discrimination on the 

basis of sexual orientation in education; 

Whereas more than 100 cities in States without explicit nondiscrimination laws have adopted ordinances barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender 

identity; 

Whereas 89 percent of Fortune 500 companies have 

proactively adopted nondiscrimination policies inclusive of 

sexual orientation and 66 percent of Fortune 500 companies have adopted nondiscrimination policies inclusive of 

gender identity; 

Whereas lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals 

may still be legally discriminated against in many jurisVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Feb 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR136.IH HR136

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•HRES 136 IH 

dictions in the areas of credit, employment, education, 

housing, jury service, and public accommodations; 

Whereas legislation was introduced in the 114th Congress to 

clarify that under Federal law lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 

transgender individuals should not be subject to discrimination in public accommodations; 

Whereas in 2015 the Supreme Court affirmed in Obergefell 

et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, 

et al., Supreme Court Docket No. 14–556, decided June 

26, 2015, that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution requires States to recognize the right of 2 individuals of the same sex to marry; 

Whereas in 2016 the Attorney General and Secretary of Education issued jointly guidance to clarify that transgender 

students are protected from sex discrimination under title 

IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and that 

schools must treat students in a manner consistent with 

their gender identity; and 

Whereas discrimination based on who an individual is or 

whom the individual loves is antithetical to a society 

based on the protection of human and civil rights: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of House of Representa2 tives that— 

3 (1) this resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Equal4 ity for All Resolution of 2017’’, 

5 (2) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender indi6 viduals are valuable, contributing members of society 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 and that discrimination on the basis of sexual ori2 entation and gender identity is a serious problem, 

3 (3) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender indi4 viduals deserve equal treatment under the law and 

5 existing Federal protections are inadequate to en6 sure nondiscrimination protections, 

7 (4) the Congress should pass legislation that 

8 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual ori9 entation and gender identity in areas including cred10 it, employment, education, federally funded pro11 grams, housing, jury service, and public accommoda12 tions, and 

13 (5) the Congress encourages each State— 

14 (A) to simultaneously adopt laws that pro15 hibit discrimination on the basis of sexual ori16 entation and gender identity in credit, employ17 ment, education, federally funded programs, 

18 housing, jury service, and public accommoda19 tions, and 

20 (B) to reject laws that undermine non21 discrimination protections. 

Æ 


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