Text of US HB 1543 (2025)

I 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal and Uniform 4 Treatment in the Military Act’’ or the ‘‘EQUITY Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1543 IH (1) Women, Black, Native American, and 1 LGBTQIA+ Americans have served in the Armed 2 Forces since the Revolutionary War. 3 (2) In 1948, 16 years before the enactment of 4 the Civil Rights Act (Public Law 88–352; 78 Stat. 5 241), which desegrated civilian spaces, President 6 Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which allowed 7 Black members of the Armed Forces to serve side- 8 by-side with white members. 9 (3) In 1948, President Truman signed the 10 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act (Public 11 Law 80–625; 62 Stat. 356) into law, officially allow- 12 ing women to serve as full, permanent members of 13 each Armed Force. 14 (4) In 1967, President Johnson signed into law 15 Public Law 90–130, which authorized the promotion 16 of women to the ranks of general and flag officers. 17 (5) In 1972, women were allowed to command 18 units that included men. 19 (6) In 1982, the Department of Defense In- 20 struction 1332.14, ‘‘Enlisted Administrative Separa- 21 tions’’, banned homosexual individuals from serving 22 in the Armed Forces. 23 (7) In 1993, President Clinton signed into law 24 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1543 IH Year 1994 (Public Law 103–16), which enacted sec- 1 tion 654 of title 10, United States Code, ‘‘Policy 2 concerning homosexuality in the armed forces’’, com- 3 monly known as ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’. 4 (8) In 2011, President Obama signed into law 5 the ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010’’, al- 6 lowing homosexual members to openly serve in the 7 Armed Forces. 8 (9) In 2015, the last remaining policy restric- 9 tions on women serving in direct combat roles were 10 removed. 11 (10) In 2021, President Biden issued Executive 12 Order 13988, which rescinded the policy that prohib- 13 ited transgender individuals from serving in the 14 Armed Forces. 15 (11) In 2025, President Trump issued Execu- 16 tive Order 14183, falsely stating that people who are 17 transgender ‘‘cannot satisfy the rigorous standards 18 necessary for military service’’ and that their iden- 19 tity ‘‘conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an 20 honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in 21 one’s personal life.’’ 22 (12) It should be the policy of the United 23 States that every member of the Armed Forces has 24 the right to serve, advance, and be evaluated based 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1543 IH on only individual merit, fitness, capability, and per- 1 formance, in an environment free of discrimination 2 on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, 3 sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. 4 SEC. 3. NONDISCRIMINATION IN THE ARMED FORCES. 5 Chapter 49 of title 10, United States Code, is amend- 6 ed by inserting after section 974 the following new section: 7 ‘‘§ 975. Prohibition on discrimination 8 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), 9 discrimination within the Department of Defense against 10 an individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, na- 11 tional origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation, is pro- 12 hibited. 13 ‘‘(2) A qualification established or applied regarding 14 eligibility for service in an armed force shall take into ac- 15 count only the ability of an individual to meet— 16 ‘‘(A) general occupational standards for mili- 17 tary service; and 18 ‘‘(B) the particular military occupational spe- 19 cialty. 20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 ‘‘(1) The term ‘gender identity’ means the gen- 22 der-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or 23 other gender-related characteristics of an individual, 24 regardless of the individual’s designated sex at birth. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1543 IH ‘‘(2) The term ‘sex’ includes— 1 ‘‘(A) a sex stereotype; 2 ‘‘(B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related 3 medical condition; and 4 ‘‘(C) sex characteristics, including intersex 5 traits. 6 ‘‘(3) The term ‘sex stereotype’ includes— 7 ‘‘(A) stereotypical notions of masculinity or 8 femininity; 9 ‘‘(B) an expectation of how an individual 10 represents or communicates their gender to oth- 11 ers through behavior, clothing, hairstyle, activ- 12 ity, voice, mannerism, or body characteristic; 13 ‘‘(C) the expectation that an individual will 14 consistently identify with only one gender; and 15 ‘‘(D) an expectation regarding the appro- 16 priateness of a role for a certain sex.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS