II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1143 

To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit discrimination on 

account of sexual orientation or gender identity when extending credit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2017 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, 

Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit 

discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender 

identity when extending credit. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom from Dis5 crimination in Credit Act of 2017’’. 


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•S 1143 IS

1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION ON AC2 COUNT OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GEN3 DER IDENTITY. 

4 Subsection (a)(1) of section 701 of the Equal Credit 

5 Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691) is amended by insert6 ing ‘‘, sexual orientation, gender identity,’’ after ‘‘sex’’. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 Section 702 of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 1691a) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking subsections (f) and (g); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol12 lowing new subsections: 

13 ‘‘(f) The term ‘gender identity’ means the gender-re14 lated identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gen15 der-related characteristics of an individual, with or with16 out regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth. 

17 ‘‘(g) The term ‘person’ means a natural person, a 

18 corporation, government or governmental subdivision or 

19 agency, trust, estate, partnership, cooperative, or associa20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(h) The terms ‘race’, ‘color’, ‘religion’, ‘national ori22 gin’, ‘sex’, ‘sexual orientation’, ‘gender identity’, ‘marital 

23 status’, or ‘age’, used with respect to an individual, in24 cludes— 

25 ‘‘(1) the race, color, religion, national origin, 

26 sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital staVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 May 19, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1143.IS S1143

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•S 1143 IS

1 tus, or age, respectively, of another person with 

2 whom the individual is associated or has been associ3 ated; and 

4 ‘‘(2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, 

5 concerning the race, color, religion, national origin, 

6 sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital sta7 tus, or age, respectively, of the individual. 

8 ‘‘(i) The term ‘sex’ includes— 

9 ‘‘(1) a sex stereotype; 

10 ‘‘(2) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical 

11 condition; and 

12 ‘‘(3) sexual orientation or gender identity. 

13 ‘‘(j) The term ‘sexual orientation’ means homosex14 uality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. 

15 ‘‘(k) Any reference to any requirement imposed under 

16 this title or any provision of this title shall be deemed to 

17 include a reference to the regulations of the Bureau under 

18 this title or the provision of this title in question.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. RELATION TO STATE LAWS. 

20 Section 705(a) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 1691d(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, sexual 

22 orientation, gender identity,’’ after ‘‘sex’’. 

Æ 


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