I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5054 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination in the 

Armed Forces. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. STRICKLAND (for herself, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. HORSFORD, 

Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON, 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. ADAMS, and Mrs. TORRES of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit 

discrimination in the Armed Forces. 

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 ‘‘Equal and Uniform 

5 Treatment in the Military Act’’ or the ‘‘EQUITY Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Women, Black, Native American, and 

2 LGBTQIA+ Americans have served in the Armed 

3 Forces since the Revolutionary War. 

4 (2) In 1948, 16 years before the enactment of 

5 the Civil Rights Act (Public Law 88–352; 78 Stat. 

6 241), which desegrated civilian spaces, President 

7 Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which allowed 

8 Black members of the Armed Forces to serve side9 by-side with white members. 

10 (3) In 1948, President Truman signed the 

11 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act (Public 

12 Law 80–625; 62 Stat. 356) into law, officially allow13 ing women to serve as full, permanent members of 

14 each Armed Force. 

15 (4) In 1967, President Johnson signed into law 

16 Public Law 90–130, which authorized the promotion 

17 of women to the ranks of general and flag officers. 

18 (5) In 1972, women were allowed to command 

19 units that included men. 

20 (6) In 1982, the Department of Defense In21 struction 1332.14, ‘‘Enlisted Administrative Separa22 tions’’, banned homosexual individuals from serving 

23 in the Armed Forces. 

24 (7) In 1993, President Clinton signed into law 

25 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 


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1 Year 1994 (Public Law 103–16), which enacted sec2 tion 654 of title 10, United States Code, ‘‘Policy 

3 concerning homosexuality in the armed forces’’, com4 monly known as ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’. 

5 (8) In 2011, President Obama signed into law 

6 the ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010’’, al7 lowing homosexual members to openly serve in the 

8 Armed Forces. 

9 (9) In 2015, the last remaining policy restric10 tions on women serving in direct combat roles were 

11 removed. 

12 (10) In 2021, President Biden issued Executive 

13 Order 13988, which rescinded the policy that prohib14 ited transgender individuals from serving in the 

15 Armed Forces. 

16 (11) It should be the policy of the United 

17 States that every member of the Armed Forces has 

18 the right to serve, advance, and be evaluated based 

19 on only individual merit, fitness, capability, and per20 formance, in an environment free of discrimination 

21 on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, 

22 sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. 

23 SEC. 3. NONDISCRIMINATION IN THE ARMED FORCES. 

24 Chapter 49 of title 10, United States Code, is amend25 ed by inserting after section 985 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 986. Prohibition on discrimination 

2 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), 

3 discrimination within the Department of Defense against 

4 an individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, na5 tional origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation, is pro6 hibited. 

7 ‘‘(2) A qualification established or applied regarding 

8 eligibility for service in an armed force shall take into ac9 count only the ability of an individual to meet— 

10 ‘‘(A) general occupational standards for mili11 tary service; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the particular military occupational spe13 cialty. 

14 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) The term ‘gender identity’ means the gen16 der-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or 

17 other gender-related characteristics of an individual, 

18 regardless of the individual’s designated sex at birth. 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘sex’ includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) a sex stereotype; 

21 ‘‘(B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related 

22 medical condition; and 

23 ‘‘(C) sex characteristics, including intersex 

24 traits. 

25 ‘‘(3) The term ‘sex stereotype’ includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) stereotypical notions of masculinity or 

2 femininity; 

3 ‘‘(B) an expectation of how an individual 

4 represents or communicates their gender to oth5 ers through behavior, clothing, hairstyle, activ6 ity, voice, mannerism, or body characteristic; 

7 ‘‘(C) the expectation that an individual will 

8 consistently identify with only one gender; and 

9 ‘‘(D) an expectation regarding the appro10 priateness of a role for a certain sex.’’. 

Æ 


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