Heritage: 11 Myths About the Transgender ‘Equality Act’

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 01: Sarah McBride, National Press secretary of Human Rights Collati
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The Heritage Foundation exposed 11 of the most revolutionary demands in the Democrats’ so-called Equality Act, which would force Americans to accept the transgender ideology’s far-reaching claim that each person’s legal sex is determined by their inner feelings of “gender identity,” not by their measurable biology.

Heritage reported:

The proposed Equality Act of 2021 (H.R. 5) would make mainstream beliefs about marriage, biological facts about sex differences, and many sincerely held beliefs punishable under the law. The Equality Act makes discrimination the law of the land by forcing Americans to conform to government-mandated beliefs under the threat of life-ruining financial and criminal penalties. Presented as a bill with commonsense and decent protections against discrimination, H.R. 5 is anything but. The Equality Act politicizes medicine and education and demolishes existing civil rights and constitutional freedoms.

The paper describes the 11 myths pushed by its progressive supporters — and then details the reality behind the progressive myths.

Myth 1: The Equality Act Simply Punishes Discrimination Against People Who Identify as Gay or Transgender

Fact: The Equality Act—introduced as H.R. 5 in the House of Representatives on February 18, 2021—makes mainstream beliefs about marriage, as well as basic biological facts about sex differences, punishable under the law …

Myth 2: The Equality Act Preserves Religious Freedom

Fact: The Equality Act guts the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and threatens constitutional freedoms by eliminating conscience protections from the Civil Rights Act. If enacted, H.R. 5 would force employers, medical professionals, educators, and religious organizations to allow men into women’s shelters, pay for or perform sex-change operations, and engage in speech that violates their consciences …

Myth 3: The Equality Act Does Not Expand the Scope of Federal Civil Rights Law

Fact: By expanding the definition of “public accommodations” under Title II of the Civil Rights Act to include “any establishment that provides a good, service, or program, including a store, shopping center, online retailer or service provider, salon, bank, gas station, food bank, service or care center, shelter, travel agency, or funeral parlor, or establishment that provides health care, accounting, or legal services,” many more individuals and establishments would, in fact, become liable for discrimination claims, including doctors who do not want to perform abortions …

Myth 4: The Equality Act Is Irrelevant to Abortion

Fact: H.R. 5 endangers unborn children. The Equality Act opens the door to taxpayer funding for elective abortions, which the vast majority of Americans oppose, regardless of political affiliation. The bill does not contain any conscience protections for those with moral or religious objections to paying for or performing abortions. It also takes away judicial relief by blocking claims based on the RFRA …

Myth 5: The Equality Act Is Good for Women and Upholds Title IX of the Education Amendments Act, Which Prohibits Sex Discrimination Against Girls and Women

Fact: The Equality Act’s changes to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act do not uphold Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments Act. Gender-identity policies will require biological males to be permitted to participate in female-only activities …

Myth 6: Safety and Privacy in Sex-Specific Spaces Will Not Be Diminished

Fact: All single-sex spaces will be open to both sexes under the Equality Act. The Equality Act adds sexual orientation and gender identity rules to Title III of the Civil Rights Act on “public facilities” as well as to public accommodations (Title II) and federal funding (Title VI). This would create a nationwide transgender policy in single-sex facilities …

Myth 7: The Equality Act Treats All Students Fairly, Promotes Inclusion, and Cannot Affect School Curricula.

Fact: By adding sexual orientation and gender-identity rules to the Civil Rights Act’s Title IV on “desegregation of public education,” the Equality Act could pave the way for K–12 federal courts to require sexual orientation and gender-identity curricula the same way they required black history curricula …

Myth 8: Doctors Will Not Be Forced to Perform Sex-Change Operations or Prescribe Hormones for “Gender Affirmation”

Fact: As a result of the expanding definition of public accommodations, as well as changing federal funding requirements, doctors (and counselors) could be punished for treating gender dysphoria according to their own best medical judgment. Even a referral to another doctor could be a violation of the Civil Rights Act …

Myth 9: Parental Rights Will Remain Unchanged

Fact: The Equality Act’s politicization of medicine and education through gender ideology will undermine parental rights. Since most schools will be pressured to comply with sexual-orientation and gender-identity policies, parents will have limited educational choices for their children. Those who do not believe that their daughters should have to compete against biological males in sports …

Myth 10: The Equality Act Helps Children in Need of Foster Homes and Adoption

Fact: The Equality Act hurts vulnerable children by punishing faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies that believe that every child deserves both a mother and a father and that children’s bodies should not be irreversibly harmed by hormonal or surgical interventions due to gender dysphoria …

Myth 11: The Supreme Court’s Decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, Requires the Equality Act’s Changes to Civil Rights Law

Fact: The Equality Act goes far beyond the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock ruling. While Bostock invented a misguided theory of sex discrimination in employment law, it did not redefine “sex” to include sexual orientation and gender identity … Because Bostock was limited to employment, it said nothing about schools, sports, or medicine. The Equality Act adds sexual orientation and gender identity to all of them.

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