Lauren Boebert criticised for calling Equality Act ‘supremacy of gays’

Bill to prevent discrimination against LGBT+ people passed House last week

Controversial freshman lawmaker Lauren Boebert has been criticised online following her recent remarks about a bill banning discrimination of LGBT+ groups, calling the act “supremacy of gays”.

On Wednesday, the Colorado representative appeared on Real America’s Voice, a right-leaning media network, where she lashed out at the Equality Act.

Ms Boebert claimed that “there is nothing about equality” in the act, adding: “If anything, it’s supremacy—of gays, lesbians” before pausing and mispronouncing the word "transvestite," in an apparent reference to transgender people.

The US House of Representatives passed the bill last week which will ban discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

The act is a civil rights bill that would outlaw LGBT+ discrimination in the same way racial and sex discrimination is already outlawed at the federal level.

The lawmaker quickly received backlash online for her comments from critics and journalists, with many condemning the remarks.

“This is some f***** up (almost incomprehensible) s*** right here,” Daily Beast Editor at Large Molly Jong-Fast said.

One user commented: “There nothing worse than when people use the constitution to justify bigotry.”

“When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression,” Adam Rifkin said.

The Equality Act is facing a tough path through the 50-50 Senate before it can make its way to President Joe Biden’s desk.

“I hope it will not be lost in the politics of the Senate,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Thursday shortly before the bill’s passage.

As it stands, more than half of states across the US don’t explicitly have discrimination protections on the basis of gender identity and sexuality.

Ms Boebert, an unabashed loyalist of former President Donald Trump, has often stoked controversy with her far-right views during her campaign and first months in office.

During her first month, the 34-year-old restaurant owner has argued for the right to bring firearms onto the House floor and voted to overturn President Joe Biden’s election.

Another controversial freshmen lawmaker, Marjorie Taylor Greene, filed amendments to the bill on Tuesday attempting to wholly replace the act with a number of anti LGBT+ provisions.

Other prominent Republican lawmakers, such as Utah senator Mitt Romney, have stated opposition to the bill, with the senator citing the absence of “religious liberty protections” in its language.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the lone Republican co-sponsor of the bill in 2019, has redacted her support this time around, saying a compromise had not been reached on the legislation since it was first proposed.