center for american progress

July 24, 2015July 25, 2015

Cicilline introduces LGBT protection bill in Congress

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Congressman David Cicilline (D- RI) announced historic legislation to expand upon the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and provide protections for the LGBT community in several areas, including public accommodations, housing, employment, federal funding, education, credit, and jury service. Announced in Washington, D.C., the bill, known as the Equality Act, has been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 157 original cosponsors to the bill in the House, and 40 in the Senate.

“In most states, you can get married on Saturday, post your wedding photos to Facebook on Sunday, and then get fired on Monday just because of who you are. This is completely wrong,” Cicilline said in a press conference. “Fairness and equality are core American values. No American citizen should ever have to live their lives in fear of discrimination.”

Currently, there are 31 states where it is legal to discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation, and deny them services, employment, or housing.

Cicilline, who is one of seven openly gay members of Congress, added that the Equality Act is common sense legislation that will help to resolve the current patchwork of anti-discrimination laws all over the country.

“Partial equality is not acceptable. It’s time for a comprehensive bill that protects LGBT Americans,” he said.

The Human Rights Campaign, a non-partisan LGBT advocacy group, found that 63 percent of LGBT individuals have been the targets of discrimination in their personal lives. LGBT students have also been made to feel unsafe at school- 82 percent have been verbally harassed, while 38 percent have been physically harassed.

Other members of Congress spoke on the bill as well. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D- WI) said that she believes America is ready for such a comprehensive step.

“No American should be at risk of being fired, evicted from their home, or denied services because of who they are, or who they love,” she said. “We also need to make sure that every American has a fair chance to earn a living and provide for their families.”

Senator Cory Booker (D- NJ), said the act is based on purely American values, even if the reason for its existence isn’t very American at all.

“This legislation that we are introducing is something that resonates with the best of who we are as a nation,” he said. “But the need for this legislation reflects the worst of who we are.”

Representative John Lewis (D-GA) said the act is long overdue, and provides justice for LGBT Americans. He said it will provide them dignity and respect, without fear of being denied things they need for being who they are. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) echoed these sentiments, saying that he hopes that Congress will take immediate action to pass the bill.

Many outside of government were invited to come share their stories about how they have been denied services just for being gay or transgender. One couple’s pediatrician would not treat their daughter just because they were lesbians, while a transgender man from Texas was fired from his job after being “outed.” Many advocacy groups showed their support as well, including the Human Rights Campaign, the Center for American Progress, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

“This is a national problem that needs a national solution, and the Equality Act is that solution,” said Winnie Satchelberg, the Executive Vice President of the Center for American Progress.

Only 19 states provide employment and housing protections for LGBT Americans. 17 states prohibit public accommodation discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and four prohibit it based solely upon sexual orientation. Prohibitions for education discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity exist in 14 states.

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015

Group seeks to close loophole leaving guns in the hands of domestic abusers

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Under Federal law, a person “convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic abuse” is banned from owning a gun for life. Yet in Rhode Island, this law is not often prosecuted, leaving weapons in the hands of domestic abusers. Worse, even when this statue is prosecuted by the state, it falls short in several ways.

Under Rhode Island law, domestic abuse includes dating partners as well as married and co-habitating couples. Federal law does not include dating partners. Also, under Federal law, there is no mechanism defined for actually removing guns from the homes of domestic abusers, but there is under Rhode Island law.

Under Rhode Island law § 11-47-5 (b) “…no person convicted of an offense punishable as a felony offense…shall purchase, own, carry, transport or having in his or her possession any firearm, for a period of two years following the conviction.” Often a domestic abuser will plead down their offense from a felony to a misdemeanor, which has the effect of leaving guns in the possession of abusers.

The upshot of this legal maze of federal and state law is that guns too often remain in the hands of domestic abusers, and the statistics on the intersection of guns and domestic abuse are stark. According the the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, (RICAGV) between 2001 and 2012 more than 6,410 women were murdered in the United States by an intimate partner using a gun and abused women are five times more likely to be killed if their abuser has access to a gun.

According to the Center for American Progress and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “of the 67 female homicide victims in Rhode Island from 2003 to 2012, 27 were the result of a domestic violence incident.”

A study from the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, “Batterers’ Use of Guns to Threaten Intimate Partners,” domestic abusers use their guns in many ways as a form of threat. Abusers may threaten to shoot their victim or a person or pet the victim cares about. Abusers may clean, hold, load or even fire a gun during an argument with the victim, driving home their threat without the use of words.

Most gun advocates will agree that guns need to be in the hands of responsible gun owners, not criminals. To that end, the RICAGV is backing legislation that will close the maze of legal loopholes surrounding gun ownership and domestic abuse. The changes in RI § 11-47-5(b) being suggested would:

Reduce the sentence from felony to misdemeanor, thereby forcing domestic abusers to lose the right to their guns,
Increase the ban on possessing firearms from 2 years to lifetime, since domestic abusers are typically repeat offenders and can easily “wait out” a two year restriction, and
Include a clause that would allow persons who have expunged their records, thereby demonstrating that they have reformed themselves, to have their right to firearms reinstated.

A form of this legislation passed the Rhode Island Senate last year unanimously, but died in committee in the House. This year it is hoped that the House has the leadership to pass this common sense legislation out of committee and bring it to the floor for a full vote. Like the legislation that seeks to close the loophole allowing guns in schools, this should be an easy win for gun safety advocates in Rhode Island.

October 18, 2012October 18, 2012

Gov. Chafee to Talk About Green Energy at CAP

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chafee_bryant — Governor Chafee addressing a much smaller crowd at Bryant University earlier this year. (photo by Bob Plain)

The independent governor of Rhode Island is going to Washington D.C’s premiere progressive think tank to talk about renewable energy policy on Friday.

Linc Chafee will give the opening remarks at the Center for American Progress for a discussion billed as “Regional Energy Solutions, Moving Beyond ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’”

According to a press advisory on the talk:

The path embraced by the fossil fuel industry claims that we can mine and drill our way to energy independence without regard for the long-term implications. But America deserves better than the “one size fits all, drill everywhere and now” strategy, put forth by the American Petroleum Institute, designed to pad the pockets of the industries of yesterday. We embrace an alternative vision that looks to diversify and strengthen the economy through proactive solutions that move us toward sustainable energy independence; reducing our carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels by capitalizing on the various resources available in different regions across America; and realizing their potential to create the good green jobs of the future.

The Center for American Progress, the parent organization of the popular progressive blog Think Progress, will be livestreaming the talk starting at 10 a.m., so you can watch it live here.

CAP and the Center for the Next Generation will be releasing their new report that “examines successful non-fossil-fuel-based economic development strategies in six major regions of the country to showcase the future potential of the clean energy economy,” according to the advisory.