The following bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representives:

Please check Thomas/Library of Congress web site for updates and lists of co-sponsors

H.R. 1397: Employment Non-Discrimination Act – Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender.

H.R. 1116: Respect for Marriage Act – An amendment to the Defense of Marriage Act, it recognizes any same sex marriage throughout the country if the marriage was legal in the state where it was entered into. It also removes the definition of ‘spouse’ which is now defined as “a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”

H.R. 1028: Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2011 – Requires every institution of higher education participating in a Title IV program to draft a policy regarding harassment of students.  This policy must include four things: a statement prohibiting harassment of student by other students, faculty members, and staff, a description of programs to prevent harassment, a description detailing procedures that students should follow if harassment occurs, and lastly, a description of protocol that will be followed once an instance occurs.

H.R. 998: Student Non Discrimination Act – Prohibits public school students from being excluded from school sanctioned activities due to their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Under this act, harassment of students within the public school system will be considered a form of discrimination, with students having the legal right to seek legal action against their aggressor.

H.R. 1028: Equal Access to COBRA Act – Allows COBRA benefits to be extended to employees’ domestic partners and their dependent children.

H.R. 1488: Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act of 2011 – Amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of perceived or actual sexual orientation when applying for a line of credit.

H.R. 1537 Uniting American Families Act – Amends the Immigration and Nationality act, this bill prohibits discrimination against sexual orientation by allowing ‘permanent partners’ of U.S. citizens to obtain permanent resident status in the same manner as spouses. The amendment defines a ‘permanent partner’ as a person who meets the following five requirements: an individual who is 18 years or older and in lifelong, committed relationship with another individual 18 years or older, who is financially interdependent with the other individual, who is not currently married or in a permanent partnership with any other person, who is unable to contract an identifiable marriage with the other individual, and who is not of blood relation to the individual.

H.R. 1796 Reuniting Families Act— Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, this bill extends the worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants and employment-based immigrants to include the ‘permanent partners’ of U.S. citizens as previously defined in the Uniting American Families Act .

H.R. 1681 Every Child Deserves a Family Act – Prohibits the discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity of both the prospective foster parent and the adoptive child in foster care programs.

H.R. 1648 Safe Schools Improvement Act– Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, this bill improves the necessary steps of action school systems must take against bullying and harassment.   It requires states to consistently report information on bullying and harassment by youths in elementary schools, asses the necessity of a bullying and harassment prevention programs, and provide technical assistance to local education agencies to prevent bullying and harassment.

H.R. 2088 Tax Parity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act – legislation would stop health-care benefits from being considered income for tax purposes. Thus, those with a domestic partner enrolled in his or her work-sponsored health-care plan no longer would incur a tax liability for those benefits.