119-hr1543

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1543 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1543

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination in 
 the Armed Forces.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 24, 2025

Ms. Strickland (for herself, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Horsford, Ms. 
 Tokuda, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Norton, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Lieu, and Mr. 
 Veasey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination in 
 the Armed Forces.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Equal and Uniform Treatment in the 
Military Act'' or the ``EQUITY Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Women, Black, Native American, and LGBTQIA+ Americans 
 have served in the Armed Forces since the Revolutionary War.

    (2) In 1948, 16 years before the enactment of the Civil 
 Rights Act (Public Law 88-352; 78 Stat. 241), which desegrated 
 civilian spaces, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, 
 which allowed Black members of the Armed Forces to serve side-
 by-side with white members.

    (3) In 1948, President Truman signed the Women's Armed 
 Services Integration Act (Public Law 80-625; 62 Stat. 356) into 
 law, officially allowing women to serve as full, permanent 
 members of each Armed Force.

    (4) In 1967, President Johnson signed into law Public Law 
 90-130, which authorized the promotion of women to the ranks of 
 general and flag officers.

    (5) In 1972, women were allowed to command units that 
 included men.

    (6) In 1982, the Department of Defense Instruction 1332.14, 
 ``Enlisted Administrative Separations'', banned homosexual 
 individuals from serving in the Armed Forces.

    (7) In 1993, President Clinton signed into law the National 
 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103-
 16), which enacted 

section 654 of title 10, United States Code, 
 ``Policy concerning homosexuality in the armed forces'', 
 commonly known as ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell''.

    (8) In 2011, President Obama signed into law the ``Don't 
 Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010'', allowing homosexual 
 members to openly serve in the Armed Forces.

    (9) In 2015, the last remaining policy restrictions on 
 women serving in direct combat roles were removed.

    (10) In 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 13988, 
 which rescinded the policy that prohibited transgender 
 individuals from serving in the Armed Forces.

    (11) In 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14183, 
 falsely stating that people who are transgender ``cannot 
 satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service'' 
 and that their identity ``conflicts with a soldier's commitment 
 to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in 
 one's personal life.''

    (12) It should be the policy of the United States that 
 every member of the Armed Forces has the right to serve, 
 advance, and be evaluated based on only individual merit, 
 fitness, capability, and performance, in an environment free of 
 discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, 
 religion, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

SEC. 3. NONDISCRIMINATION IN THE ARMED FORCES.

 Chapter 49 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after 

section 974 the following new section:
``

Sec. 975. Prohibition on discrimination
 ``

    (a) Prohibition.--

    (1) Subject to paragraph

    (2) , discrimination 
within the Department of Defense against an individual on the basis of 
race, color, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual 
orientation, is prohibited.
 ``

    (2) A qualification established or applied regarding eligibility 
for service in an armed force shall take into account only the ability 
of an individual to meet--
 ``
        (A) general occupational standards for military service; 
 and
 ``
        (B) the particular military occupational specialty.
 ``

    (b) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:
 ``

    (1) The term `gender identity' means the gender-related 
 identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related 
 characteristics of an individual, regardless of the 
 individual's designated sex at birth.
 ``

    (2) The term `sex' includes--
 ``
        (A) a sex stereotype;
 ``
        (B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical 
 condition; and
 ``
            (C) sex characteristics, including intersex 
 traits.
 ``

    (3) The term `sex stereotype' includes--
 ``
        (A) stereotypical notions of masculinity or 
 femininity;
 ``
        (B) an expectation of how an individual 
 represents or communicates their gender to others 
 through behavior, clothing, hairstyle, activity, voice, 
 mannerism, or body characteristic;
 ``
            (C) the expectation that an individual will 
 consistently identify with only one gender; and
 ``
            (D) an expectation regarding the appropriateness 
 of a role for a certain sex.''.
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