SPONSOR:

Rep. Longhurst & Rep. Griffith & Rep. Heffernan & Rep. K. Johnson & Rep. Morrison & Rep. Dorsey Walker & Sen. S. McBride & Sen. Gay & Sen. Pinkney & Sen. Poore

Reps. Baumbach, Bentz, Brady, Carson, Chukwuocha, Kowalko, Lambert, Lynn, Minor-Brown, Mitchell, Osienski, Schwartzkopf, Wilson-Anton; Sens. Hansen, Lockman, Lopez, Paradee, Sokola, Sturgeon, Townsend, Walsh

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 199

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO EQUAL RIGHTS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend § 21, Article I of the Delaware Constitution by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

Section 21.

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged on account of sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, race, color, national origin, or sex.

SYNOPSIS

In 2019, Delaware amended the state constitution to prohibit the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on sex, and thereafter in 2020, race, color, and national origin were added. This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability to Article I, § 21 of the Delaware Constitution to declare explicitly that protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability is one of Delaware's fundamental rights.