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. KIL-
DEE, 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 PAT-
RICK 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-POR-
TER, 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, bisex-
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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 discrimi-
nation in violation of this Declaration and against any in-
citement to such discrimination.’’; 
Whereas many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender indi-
viduals experience discrimination throughout the scope of 
their lives including in acquiring credit, seeking jobs, ac-
cessing public accommodations, attending school, receiv-
ing 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 re-
cipients; 
Whereas the States of California, Colorado, Connecticut, 
Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mas-
sachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, 
Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and 
New York (plus the District of Columbia, the Virgin Is-
lands of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) prohibit 
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•HRES 136 IH 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gen-
der identity in employment and housing, and New Hamp-
shire 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, Min-
nesota, 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 edu-
cation, and Wisconsin prohibits discrimination on the 
basis of sexual orientation in education; 
Whereas more than 100 cities in States without explicit non-
discrimination laws have adopted ordinances barring dis-
crimination 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 compa-
nies have adopted nondiscrimination policies inclusive of 
gender identity; 
Whereas lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals 
may still be legally discriminated against in many juris-
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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 discrimi-
nation 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 Con-
stitution requires States to recognize the right of 2 indi-
viduals of the same sex to marry; 
Whereas in 2016 the Attorney General and Secretary of Edu-
cation 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 
Resolved, That it is the sense of House of Representa-
tives that— 
(1) this resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Equal-
ity for All Resolution of 2017’’, 
(2) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender indi-
viduals are valuable, contributing members of society 
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•HRES 136 IH 
and that discrimination on the basis of sexual ori-
entation and gender identity is a serious problem, 
(3) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender indi-
viduals deserve equal treatment under the law and 
existing Federal protections are inadequate to en-
sure nondiscrimination protections, 
(4) the Congress should pass legislation that 
prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual ori-
entation and gender identity in areas including cred-
it, employment, education, federally funded pro-
grams, housing, jury service, and public accommoda-
tions, and 
(5) the Congress encourages each State— 
(A) to simultaneously adopt laws that pro-
hibit discrimination on the basis of sexual ori-
entation and gender identity in credit, employ-
ment, education, federally funded programs, 
housing, jury service, and public accommoda-
tions, and 
(B) to reject laws that undermine non-
discrimination protections. 
Æ 
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