Ahead of an upcoming vote on the Equality Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday asked Congress to "get it done."
Tim Cook speaks out in support of the Equality Act
The Equality Act, introduced to amend existing civil rights laws, bans LGBTQ discrimination across multiple areas of American life. Currently, there are protections for discrimination against gender identity and sexual orientation in some, but not all, states. This bill would extend protections from the Civil Rights and Fair Housing acts to LGBTQ people across all states in the U.S.
Apple's CEO Tim Cook is a vocal advocate of LGBTQ rights and came out as gay himself in 2014. He's spoken out in interviews and tweets about the need for the end to discrimination of any kind -- be it based on race, sexual orientation, or gender.
The Equality Act reflects in law the fact that every person deserves dignity & respect, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity-- at work, at home and in the public square. We strongly support its passage, and we encourage Congress to come together and get it done.
-- Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 23, 2021
This is not the first time the Equality Act was introduced. Back in 2015, Apple supported it the first time as well. The company gave the following statement on the Equality Act in 2015:
"At Apple we believe in equal treatment for everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love," Apple wrote. "We fully support the expansion of legal protections as a matter of basic human dignity."