# 119-hr-1543: EQUITY Act

119-hr-1543, EQUITY Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10] (D-WA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1543
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-1543
- Congress: 119
- Title: EQUITY Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-24
- Sponsor: Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10] (D-WA)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**This bill would ban discrimination across the U.S. Armed Forces based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.** It would require that eligibility and assignments be decided only by general occupational standards and the needs of the specific military job. - Service members who are LGBTQ+, women, or racial and ethnic minorities would gain explicit statutory protections against discrimination in hiring, assignment, promotion, and retention. - Applicants and commanders would be required to use only job-related, general occupational standards and the relevant military occupational specialty when evaluating eligibility. That limits disqualifications based on gender stereotypes or non-job-related traits. - The bill would define "gender identity", "sex", and "sex stereotype" to guide enforcement and complaints. Those definitions include intersex traits, pregnancy, and gender-related appearance and mannerisms.

## Cosponsors (9)

- Rep. Escobar, Veronica [D-TX-16] (D-TX), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] (D-AL), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Horsford, Steven [D-NV-4] (D-NV), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4] (D-VA), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sherrill, Mikie [D-NJ-11] (D-NJ), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Veasey, Marc A. [D-TX-33] (D-TX), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Ban on discrimination in military service: benefit, medium. This bill would bar the Department of Defense from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Recruiting and career decisions would have to rely only on general military standards and the specific job’s requirements. Gender identity…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-1543 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1543)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-51)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5390)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1543 (as of 2026-04-21).