Citi Signs U.S. Equality Act

Citi is proud to join the Business Coalition for the Equality Act, a group of leading U.S. employers that support the proposed Equality Act, federal legislation that would provide the same basic protections to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people as are provided to other protected groups under federal law.

The Equality Act would amend existing civil rights law—including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Jury Selection and Services Act, and several laws regarding employment with the federal government—to explicitly include 'sexual orientation and gender identity' as protected characteristics.

The Equality Act creates clear, consistent protections to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment. In addition, the bill provides protections from discrimination for LGBTQ people in housing, education, credit, and jury service. The bill would also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations and federal funding.

As a company, we have long had policies that align with the workplace protections outlined in the Equality Act, but we believe that these and other rights and protection addressed in the Act and referenced legislation, should be explicitly extended to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Much more needs to be done and we will continue to support the rights of LGBTQ employees and communities within the workplace and around the world.