GOP House Kills Infrastructure Spending Bill Rather Than Allow Protection for LGBT Workers

LGBT Issues at Forefront of Debate on Both Sides – One Pro-Equality, Two Anti-LGBT Amendments Had Been Included  

Late Thursday morning the House defeated an energy and water infrastructure spending bill. The vote was 305-112. Republicans voted it down mostly because of an attached pro-LGBT bill, The Hill suggests, calling it “the continuation of a fight could endanger the rest of the appropriations process this session.”

Wednesday night the U.S. House of Representative had passed two anti-LGBT bills, and one pro-equality bill. A bill that would codify into law President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive orders banning discrimination against LGBT workers by federal contractors and their employees passed after top GOP House leaders last week conspired, successfully derailing it. All three are attached to the $37.4 billion House energy and water infrastructure spending bill.

The two anti-LGBT bills passed Wednesday include a “religious freedom” license to discriminate, and a bill prohibiting the Obama administration of holding federal funds from North Carolina over its anti-LGBT law known as HB2.

The Byrne Amendment to the House spending bill would provide a religious exemption to federal contractors who are banned from discriminating against LGBT people. Federal contractors would be allowed to fire or refuse to hire LGBT people while still collecting money from taxpayers. That bill passed 233-186.

“We should have no problem ensuring that religious entities still enjoy the protections of the free exercise of religion,” Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama told his colleagues on the House floor, The Washington Post reported.

Here’s Byrne speaking Wednesday night:

GOP Rep. Robert Pittenger of North Carolina saw his amendment pass 227-192. That bill would ban the Obama administration “from revoking funds previously appropriated to North Carolina in retaliation for the state’s controversial transgender bathroom law,” The Hill reports. 

“We believe this is an egregious abuse of executive power and that the State of North Carolina should not be required to comply to the president’s wishes. The president is not a monarch, he is not a dictator, he does not issue fiats, we are a constitutional divided government,” Pittenger said on the floor.

Expect all three pro- and anti-LGBT bills to return in other votes.

UPDATE: 1:11 PM EDT —
Via Chris Johnson at The Washington Blade:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slammed House Republicans for defeating the LGBT-inclusive measure after many of them voted in favor of adopting the pro-LGBT amendment.

“House Republicans’ thirst to discriminate against the LGBT community is so strong that they are willing to vote down their own appropriations bill in order to prevent progress over bigotry,” Pelosi said. “In turning against a far-reaching funding bill simply because it affirms protections for LGBT Americans, Republicans have once again lain bare the depths of their bigotry.”

Also condemning House Republicans was House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who said the vote “demonstrated their clear opposition to equality and civil rights in America.”

 

Image by USCapitol via Flickr