Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1543 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1543
5	5	To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination in the
6	6	Armed Forces.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	FEBRUARY24, 2025
9	9	Ms. S
10	10	TRICKLAND(for herself, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. HORSFORD,
11	11	Ms. T
12	12	OKUDA, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. LIEU,
13	13	and Mr. V
14	14	EASEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
15	15	Committee on Armed Services
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit
18	18	discrimination in the Armed Forces.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal and Uniform 4
23	23	Treatment in the Military Act’’ or the ‘‘EQUITY Act’’. 5
24	24	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
25	25	Congress finds the following: 7
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28	28	•HR 1543 IH
29	29	(1) Women, Black, Native American, and 1
30	30	LGBTQIA+ Americans have served in the Armed 2
31	31	Forces since the Revolutionary War. 3
32	32	(2) In 1948, 16 years before the enactment of 4
33	33	the Civil Rights Act (Public Law 88–352; 78 Stat. 5
34	34	241), which desegrated civilian spaces, President 6
35	35	Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which allowed 7
36	36	Black members of the Armed Forces to serve side- 8
37	37	by-side with white members. 9
38	38	(3) In 1948, President Truman signed the 10
39	39	Women’s Armed Services Integration Act (Public 11
40	40	Law 80–625; 62 Stat. 356) into law, officially allow-12
41	41	ing women to serve as full, permanent members of 13
42	42	each Armed Force. 14
43	43	(4) In 1967, President Johnson signed into law 15
44	44	Public Law 90–130, which authorized the promotion 16
45	45	of women to the ranks of general and flag officers. 17
46	46	(5) In 1972, women were allowed to command 18
47	47	units that included men. 19
48	48	(6) In 1982, the Department of Defense In-20
49	49	struction 1332.14, ‘‘Enlisted Administrative Separa-21
50	50	tions’’, banned homosexual individuals from serving 22
51	51	in the Armed Forces. 23
52	52	(7) In 1993, President Clinton signed into law 24
53	53	the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 25
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57	57	Year 1994 (Public Law 103–16), which enacted sec-1
58	58	tion 654 of title 10, United States Code, ‘‘Policy 2
59	59	concerning homosexuality in the armed forces’’, com-3
60	60	monly known as ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’. 4
61	61	(8) In 2011, President Obama signed into law 5
62	62	the ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010’’, al-6
63	63	lowing homosexual members to openly serve in the 7
64	64	Armed Forces. 8
65	65	(9) In 2015, the last remaining policy restric-9
66	66	tions on women serving in direct combat roles were 10
67	67	removed. 11
68	68	(10) In 2021, President Biden issued Executive 12
69	69	Order 13988, which rescinded the policy that prohib-13
70	70	ited transgender individuals from serving in the 14
71	71	Armed Forces. 15
72	72	(11) In 2025, President Trump issued Execu-16
73	73	tive Order 14183, falsely stating that people who are 17
74	74	transgender ‘‘cannot satisfy the rigorous standards 18
75	75	necessary for military service’’ and that their iden-19
76	76	tity ‘‘conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an 20
77	77	honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in 21
78	78	one’s personal life.’’ 22
79	79	(12) It should be the policy of the United 23
80	80	States that every member of the Armed Forces has 24
81	81	the right to serve, advance, and be evaluated based 25
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84	84	•HR 1543 IH
85	85	on only individual merit, fitness, capability, and per-1
86	86	formance, in an environment free of discrimination 2
87	87	on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, 3
88	88	sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. 4
89	89	SEC. 3. NONDISCRIMINATION IN THE ARMED FORCES. 5
90	90	Chapter 49 of title 10, United States Code, is amend-6
91	91	ed by inserting after section 974 the following new section: 7
92	92	‘‘§ 975. Prohibition on discrimination 8
93	93	‘‘(a) P
94	94	ROHIBITION.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), 9
95	95	discrimination within the Department of Defense against 10
96	96	an individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, na-11
97	97	tional origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation, is pro-12
98	98	hibited. 13
99	99	‘‘(2) A qualification established or applied regarding 14
100	100	eligibility for service in an armed force shall take into ac-15
101	101	count only the ability of an individual to meet— 16
102	102	‘‘(A) general occupational standards for mili-17
103	103	tary service; and 18
104	104	‘‘(B) the particular military occupational spe-19
105	105	cialty. 20
106	106	‘‘(b) D
107	107	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 21
108	108	‘‘(1) The term ‘gender identity’ means the gen-22
109	109	der-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or 23
110	110	other gender-related characteristics of an individual, 24
111	111	regardless of the individual’s designated sex at birth. 25
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115	115	‘‘(2) The term ‘sex’ includes— 1
116	116	‘‘(A) a sex stereotype; 2
117	117	‘‘(B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related 3
118	118	medical condition; and 4
119	119	‘‘(C) sex characteristics, including intersex 5
120	120	traits. 6
121	121	‘‘(3) The term ‘sex stereotype’ includes— 7
122	122	‘‘(A) stereotypical notions of masculinity or 8
123	123	femininity; 9
124	124	‘‘(B) an expectation of how an individual 10
125	125	represents or communicates their gender to oth-11
126	126	ers through behavior, clothing, hairstyle, activ-12
127	127	ity, voice, mannerism, or body characteristic; 13
128	128	‘‘(C) the expectation that an individual will 14
129	129	consistently identify with only one gender; and 15
130	130	‘‘(D) an expectation regarding the appro-16
131	131	priateness of a role for a certain sex.’’. 17
132	132	Æ
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