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Equality Act
This bill prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in a wide variety of areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. Specifically, the bill defines and includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation.
The bill expands the definition of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide (1) exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays; (2) goods, services, or programs; and (3) transportation services.
The bill allows the Department of Justice to intervene in equal protection actions in federal court on account of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Protections against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin shall include protections against discrimination based on (1) an association with another person who is a member of such a protected class; or (2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, that an individual is a member of such a protected class. The bill prohibits the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 from providing a claim, defense, or basis for challenging such protections.
The bill prohibits an individual from being denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, describing H.R. 5 as passed House on May 17, 2019. It is not the text of the measure; a later amendment may have changed what it does.
May 17, 2019Each bar: ✓ Yea from the bottom, ✕ Nay aboveMay 17, 2019
House May 17, 2019 · the primary vote
Equality Act
Passed
236 Yea 173 Nay 23 not voting
Party-line vote 8 of 409 voting members broke with their own party: 8 Republicans.
DemocratsRepublicansFilled: YeaRing: NayGrey: not voting or present
432 members on this roll call, from the official House record. Party majorities need at least five voting members, so an independent never counts as breaking with a party.
Signing on is not a vote: a member can cosponsor H.R. 5 and vote against it. 239 signed when it was filed.
Organizations that named H.R. 5 in a lobbying disclosure. Only those that cited the bill by number appear, so this is a floor, not a full list.
419 disclosures name this measure. Retrieved from LDA.gov on 2026-10-05. Senate Office of Public Records cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from LDA.gov.