Critics See ‘Equality Act’ as ‘Endless Lawsuit Machine’

Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during a news conference where House and Senate Democrats introduced the Equality Act of 2019 which would ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, in Washington on March 13, 2019. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

News Analysis

New civil rights legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would extend protection to LGBTQ individuals would also undermine First Amendment free speech rights while opening the door to religious-based discrimination, according to conservative critics.