Trans flag hung outside Marjorie Taylor Greene’s office by mother of trans kid. She hit back with transphobia
Majorie Taylor Greene has to see a trans Pride flag every time she opens her office door, thanks to Democrat Marie Newman.
Greene, a QAnon follower, has dialled up her attacks against the Equality Act as the House of Representatives considers it once more, boasting that she had moved to adjourn the decisive vote.
So Newman, whose office neighbours Greene’s, hung a trans pride flag “so she can look at it every time she opens her door”.
“Our neighbour, [Majorie Taylor Greene], tried to block the Equality Act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is ‘disgusting, immoral, and evil’,” tweeted Newman, who has a trans daughter.
Hours later, Greene put up a sign in response that says: “There are TWO genders. MALE & FEMALE. Trust the science!”
Our neighbor, @RepMarieNewman, wants to pass the so-called "Equality" Act to destroy women’s rights and religious freedoms.
Thought we’d put up ours so she can look at it every time she opens her door 😉🇺🇸 https://t.co/7joKpTh6Dc pic.twitter.com/aBGRSiIF6X
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) February 24, 2021
Tensions have flared since Democrats David Cicilline and Jeff Merkley introduced the legislation to the House floor, igniting backlash from some jittery anti-LGBT+ Republicans.
Majorie Taylor Greene has mounted blistering attacks against the bill, positioning it as a threat to women’s rights (it’s not) that would protect paedophiles (it doesn’t).
President Joe Biden, having vowed to pass the Equality Act in his first 100 days in office, has compelled members of Congress to swiftly pass it.
If the Equality Act is passed, what would it mean for LGBT+ Americans?
A lot, actually, which is probably why people like Majorie Taylor Greene are so opposed to it.
The Equality Act is a broad piece of legislation. It would greatly expand how queer Americans are protected in various areas of life, from housing to jury selection, education to employment, federally-funded programs to credit.
It would do this by simply tweaking the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
At the moment, there are no basic LGBT+ discrimination protections on a federal level. This leaves individual states to decide how to protect their queer residents.
Some do, some don’t, making for a patchwork of protections that leaves many vulnerable to potential anti-LGBT+ discrimination.
By amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, rather than looping both with “sex”, LGBT+ people would be better protected in both the public and private sectors.
By granting these federal protections, for example, it would be considerably harder to deny a trans person from using a locker room or a bakery refusing to make a same-sex wedding cake.
Non-discrimination law can be a little jumbled at times, but the Equality Act would unknot it – partly because the bill would trump the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meaning that an entity couldn’t refuse to follow the Equality Act by claiming it infringes on their religious freedom.
The bill was once passed by the House in 2019 but was ignored by the then Republican-controlled Senate. It’s lingered ever since.
Now that Democrats control both chambers, Biden is vying for lawmakers to smoothly and finally pass it for good. Majorie Taylor Greene’s sign is unlikely to stop that happening.