Ted Lieu on Civil Rights

Overturn the federal ban on same-sex marriage

Ted Lieu is has repeatedly fought for social justice and equality:
• Supported every landmark marriage equality bill and coauthored HR 5 which sought to overturn the federal ban on same-sex marriage.
• SB 1172, a first-in-the-nation ban on the harmful practice of the so- called "reparative therapy" on minors, a law that is now being replicated around the country. (Author, Chapter 835, Statutes of 2012)
• SB 757 required health insurers to cover domestic partners regardless of where they are licensed. (Author, Chapter 722, Statutes of 2011)

• Ensure every person has the right to marry, regardless of sexual orientation.
• Champion and pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to provide basic protections against workplace discrimination.
• Enact protections for students who experience bullying in schools due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Strengthen equal pay laws & diversity

Ted Lieu is has repeatedly fought for social justice and equality:
• Increased diversity in California's Judicial Branch championing political appointments that are representative of all Californians.
• Expand efforts to support women in the workplace by strengthening equal pay laws.

On the frontline in the fight for marriage equality

A: Yes. I have been on the frontline in the fight for marriage equality. As an Assemblymember, I voted to support all landmark marriage equality bills, voted YES every time to expand domestic partner benefits and I was a proud co-author of HR 5, which sought to overturn the ban on same-sex marriage.

Prohibit sexual orientation conversion therapy

The Legislature finds the following:
• Being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not a disease, disorder, illness, deficiency, or shortcoming.

  The American Psychological Association advises avoiding sexual orientation change efforts that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and to seek services that reduce rejection of sexual minority youth.

• The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.

  California has a compelling interest in protecting its minors against exposure to serious harms caused by sexual orientation change efforts.

Status:Passed Senate, 23-13-4; passed Assembly 52 -22-6; Approved by the Governor 9/30/2012 (Ted Lieu voted YEA).

Don't elevate gender identity as a protected class.

Heritage Action Summary: The Maloney Amendment would ratify President Obama's 2014 executive order barring federal contractors from what it describes as "discrimination" on the basis of "sexual orientation and gender identity" in their private employment policies. In practice, it would have required federal contractors to grant biologically male employees who identify as women unfettered access to women's lockers, showers, and bathrooms.

Heritage Foundation recommendation to vote NO: (5/25/2016): Congress should not be elevating sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class garnering special legal privileges, which is the intent of the Maloney Amendment. The Maloney Amendment constitutes bad policy that unnecessarily regulates businesses. It risks undoing longstanding protections in civil rights law and makes clear that the president's orders are not exempt from them.

ACLU recommendation to vote YES: (5/11/2016): We see today claims to a right to discriminate--by refusing to provide services to LGBT people--based on religious objections. Claiming a right to discriminate in the name of religion is not new. In the 1960s, we saw objections to laws requiring integration in restaurants because of sincerely held beliefs that God wanted the races to be separate. We saw religiously affiliated universities refuse to admit students who engaged in interracial dating. In those cases, we recognized that requiring integration was not about violating religious liberty; it was about ensuring fairness. It's no different today.

Religious freedom in America means that we all have a right to our religious beliefs, but this does not give us the right to use our religion to impose those beliefs on others.

Legislative outcome: Amendment passed by the House 223-195-15 4/26/16; overall bill H.R.5055 failed 112-305-16 on 5/26/2016