guest: to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people have equal protections in our country and equal opportunity to have a job, rent an apartment, obtain credit, and serve on juries. host: why do you think this is needed right now? lgbtq we know that among people one in for experienced discrimination in the last year alone. that is not even over the course of a lifetime. discrimination is real and prevalent. we need to have policy solutions that are permanent and guaranteed for all americans. host: of course, this would be a national law if approved by congress and signed by president trump. are their state versions of this equality law already? guest: there are. we have 20 states plus the district of columbia that have conference of nondiscrimination laws on the books for all gpt q people.

tq people. lgb this is nothing new. the first was in 1975. is the human rights campaign position on this law, and what are you doing to advocate for or against it? guest: we absolutely believe the equality act is the right solution at the right time to address widespread this cremation against -- discrimination against lgbtq pe ople. we are advocating hard not only on the hill but talking with people across the country about why this law is so important. host: there is some opposition to this law. here is doug collins talking last week about his thoughts on the equality act. [video clip] >> if my democratic colleagues advance this misguided bill, my

democratic colleagues must admit it creates losers. women have won necessary protections against physical harm, but it puts women at the mercy of a biological man who wants to impersonate a woman. this is precisely the kind of consequence this bill would have. the biological differences between the sexes remain scientific and certain. girlsllifies women and as a coherent legal category worthy of civil rights protections. it demonizes them if they object. biological women will overwhelmingly lose to biological men who compete as women. the evidence is unequivocal that there will be significant numbers of boys and men who

could beat the best girls and women in head-to-head competition. claims to the contrary are simply a denial of science. is a public write, space where the relevance of sex is undeniable. response tos your representative collins? guest: unfortunately, that is an incredible misrepresentation of this bill. it actually improves lives for women. it as critical nondiscrimination protection in areas like public places and spaces and with respect to federal funds. in fact, major organizations that advocate day in and day out for women and girls, including the national women's law center, the women's sports foundation have all endorsed this bill and have made public that any claims that this bill would harm women

and girls in sports or any other area of life are simply not true. host: we are talking about the equality act that is coming up for a vote in the house. if you support this, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. if you support the equality act, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. we want to know why. the same thing if you oppose it. if you oppose the equality act, we want you to call in at (202) 748-8001. for those who oppose the equality act, (202) 748-8001. not only tell us whether you support it or not, tell us why. you can always reach us on social media, on twitter @cs panwj, and on facebook. the bill passed out of the house judiciary committee on a

partyline vote. guest: we are expecting a vote this week. we already know it is a bipartisan bill. it has republican endorsements. we expect it will pass in a bipartisan manner out of the house next week. host: what is the state in the senate? guest: that is up to senator mcconnell. we are calling for him to bring this to a fair hearing and to the floor. he has the opportunity to really make a difference in this bill, and he needs to do it. host: have you heard from the administration whether they support or oppose this bill? guest: the administration has been silent on this particular bill. when the president ran, he said he would be the best friend to lgbtq people. it is not panned out to be quite true as we have seen. maybe this is his opportunity to put his money where his mouth is. host: let's go to lena calling from new york. good morning.

caller: yes, i am. i am here. i think it is not right. i think people should have their own choice. what if someone was raped? that someone did not know they were pregnant, and all of a sudden had that happen? this is a choice for the mother. host: does the equality act have anything to do with choice? guest: the equality act ensures people, women, communities of color, and people of faith have the opportunity to go to a medical care facility and not experienced this cremation or receive unequal care. -- discrimination or receive unequal care. host: let's go to marty from wyoming, and he opposes the equality act. caller: it's a she, but that's all right.

we asked the proponents of the bill to define sexual orientation. does your bill define sexual orientation? any futuretemplate permutations of sexual orientation? we understand the american psychiatric association is on pedophiliaf deleting from the dsm, naming it a sexual orientation. does this bill contemplate future iterations of sexual orientation? fine: this bill does the sexual ideations very clearly as homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality. it is a clear definition that

does not cover criminal behavior or activity. host: let's talk to robert, who is calling from portland, oregon. robert supports the equality act. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? guest: good, thank you. how are you? i'm doing great. i wonder if you have some information for me on the matthew shepard law. guest: yes, the matthew shepard law passed in 2009. it was an amendment to our hate crimes act that added sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex and disability status. host: there have been a lot of forms of this question coming up from our social media followers. what they to sum up are asking. there is a lot of talk about women's sports and weather transgender men should play in women's sports. does this bill address this in

any form or fashion? is this part of the conversation? guest: there is part of the conversation. there is a lot of misinformation. this bill prohibits discrimination in areas like education and ensures transgender girls are treated as boys and transgender boys are treated as boys -- transgender girls are treated as girls and transgender boys are treated as boys. many sports are governed by completely separate bodies like the olympics and would not be covered under this law. host: dan, good morning. commenthi, just had a and agreed with what representative collins said a few minutes ago about the bill. also had a question, why -- if

it is not ok to discriminate people, why is it ok to discriminate against straight men? guest: i agree with you that it is not great that is why sexual orientation is defined to include heterosexuality, to include straight people as well people. our sex discrimination laws are more frugally used by women because they face discrimination more frequently, but they are available and have been used by men. tweets fromre some lawmakers who have spoken out about the equality act. "equality is a core american values and the equality act will americanst all lgbtq can enjoy their most basic human rights the matter where they live, work, or go to school."

here is a tweet from kamala harris who says, "same sex couples are being denied mortgages at astonishingly high rates. this is all the more reason congress must pass the equality act and ensure that sexual plantation is a protected class under the civil rights act." are there any upcoming supreme court cases you are watching that deal with this issue? there are three cases that have been accepted by the supreme court. two of them deal with whether or civil rightsns laws provide protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. these cases will give us a clear answer on whether or not those protections will continue to be extended to lgbtq people or

whether they will be stripped away. host: let's go to sheldon in shreveport, louisiana. caller: good morning. just like the old person around this government has played a negative role in terms of how they deal with people in our society. beene that are gay have beaten, killed, are still being killed, and murdered all over the country. toot of things people point ey say the reason why that th dislike or hate gay people, they use the bible as a prop, the same way they do with women's rights in terms of controlling their bodies. wehink as human beings

should be better than this. we should look at people and judge them based on their character, not on what they do in the bedroom or who they love or why they love someone. as human beings, we should love each and everybody. guest: thank you so much for that. we wholeheartedly agree. nobody should face discrimination because of who they are. person you are in lgbtq or person of faith, we should all be treated equally, and that is what this bill aims to do, create equal opportunities for everyone. host: there have been some people who have objected to this bill on religious grounds. "religious freedom goes out the window if this bill becomes law.

it specifically overwrites the religious freedom act that can protect people from being forced to do commerce that violates their christian convictions. there will be no more legal protections for christian people in commerce for behavior that is a sin. total antithesis of the ideal of liberty and vision by its founders. this bill expands ,rotections for people of faith creates opportunities for people. thates essentially say government has an interest in ending discrimination and the act should not be misused to allow for discrimination. the baker that he references

lost his case under the first amendment. we are not changing the first amendment. jay from raleigh, north carolina. james, good morning. caller: good morning to all. i am opposed to this don't so many levels. -- on so many levels. the democrats want to lose in 2020, let's take up the spill again. nobody wantedage, to see it. that very demographic data posted midwestern, might one who oppose that, those are the people who voted for donald trump.

title vii and the civil rights act of 604i believe were intended for black people, not people of color, not lgbtq, intended for black people. saying thisady is legislation is for people of color. the potential has been watered down. it is what it is. it is nature. it is not something you can change. guest: 70% of the american public support the act.

this is not an electoral issue that will harm anybody else for this bill. example how it expands protections for black people, also latino, asian americans here at it expands what is public space and place under the law. if you have a group of black teenagers who are being -- through no other reason but their skin have recourse. host: eric from julian, california. good morning. caller: hi. i had a question. country under this law, is it possible that transgender

be -- a former man would sports leagues would be forced to allow them to compete against biological women because they would have a massive advantage genetically if that were the case. that it will come down that they would be forced to allow former men to compete with women? guest: transgender women and girls would be allowed to play athletics consistent with their gender identity that it would not begin an unfair advantages or the opportunity to compete in ways that would be harmful for other women and girls. research demonstrates that transgender women and girls compete at similar levels to all other women and girls.

this really isn't an issue. we had 15 states, many school districts that allowed transgender women and girls to compete and there have not been problems. andrea from florida. good morning. when i lived in london and i was pregnant i went to a , and he said if you take the pill make sure you are off of it for at least a year. i think there is a prevalence of transgender based on the american society and how we built our world on chemicals. children whoto have cramps, it is in the waterways, the hormones from the cows are in the waterways, in

the air and everything. due to theence is government who now wants to create all these difficulties with the person who is being born. doctors are giving out hormones to anybody and everybody. host: i'm not a medical professional that we knew that lgbtq people have existed since the beginning of time. we did not have a language for a 200 years ago but our documents and literature are all of lgbtq people. host: what is the business coalition for the equality act? guest: our major corporations all over the country that are advocating on back half -- inalf and coming out support. we have 200 major corporations, over $4 trillion of revenue that they are responsible for.

it spans the range of corporations, tech corporations, manufacturers, hotels, airlines, businesses that are open to the public, retail stores who are saying this is what is right for employees and their families that they need to be protected in this country no matter where they live. these corporations are concerned when they are not able to transfer an employee from one state to another because they are afraid that they do not have protection. host: this is a contradiction, some of the companies in this coalition have given three quarters of a million dollars to mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham, who could be some of the obstacles. guest: hopefully the two of them and take into consideration see how important this is for these major corporations.

that this is a top priority for them. over 40 associations manufacturers who made this a top priority as well. milton,net, from massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling in opposition to the bill and reading the daily , a hugehis morning study out of sweden that follow transgender individuals for 20 or 30 years. worse intal health is the general population, by 30 they have suicide rates greater than the general population. these surgeries may not really be helping individuals, and the equality act, the medical professionals will treat

patients with hormones and provide surgeries for these people that might be in opposition to their personal and yet. it doesn't look like it is helping them. forced by theo be equality act to treat people with hormones that i think can go on to cause them heart attacks, all kinds of problems. that is my take. signal,ding the daily so that's where my ideas cap from. thank you. i can't speak to that particular study but what i can tell you is the overwhelming body of research shows that allowing transgender people to live consistent with their gender identity is of what is interest. manyis up approved by medical associations.

it is affirmed that the right way to treat lgbtq people is consistent with the gender identity. host: michael, else more maryland -- baltimore maryland. good morning. can you hear me? host: go ahead michael. caller: i just want to support you in your effort and wanted to make one comment. color, africanf american. prefer to be called a person of color. me.ink that more identifies i'm a black, the color of my

skin is not black. it is brown. have a good day. host: that's one of the reason we use the term. thelso encompasses asian-american american community, latino community. host: what's the next thing we can look forward to? the houseboat? host: the house is expected to take up this bill this week. it will be historic and exciting moment when this bill passes for the first time. it has been introduced to several congresses. we would like to thank sara, the human rights campaign to talking us to the equality act. sara, thank you very much. for data areting

wrote liveta on coverage on c-span. we are waiting for beto o'rourke .