U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado, a civil rights case relating to equal rights in public services and accommodations:

“Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision underscores the need for Congress to swiftly pass the Equality Act,” U.S. Rep. Castor stated.  “No one should be allowed to discriminate based upon their race, sex or marital status and loving couples should not have their dignity questioned in court.  As part of the LGBTQ caucus, I am urging Speaker Ryan to allow a vote on the Equality Act – which has already been cosponsored by 190 of my colleagues – so that all individuals and loving couples are protected by law from the type of discrimination we saw in this case.”

U.S. Rep. Castor has been a long-time champion of equal rights and diversity.  As a county commissioner in 2005, she was the sole vote against a resolution to ban on gay pride observations in Hillsborough County, Fla.  She continued to work for its reversal as well as during her tenure in Congress.  In 2013, the ban was finally repealed unanimously by the county commission.  In addition, in Congress, she signed an amicus brief to support overturning the Defense of Marriage Act; DOMA was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.  In 2014, she hosted a wedding for a Tampa same-sex couple in her Capitol Hill office in Washington, D.C. to provide them a haven to establish their lifelong bond and to highlight the inequality Florida’s gay couples faced before same-sex marriages became legal in Florida.  In 2015, she applauded the SCOTUS decision of Obergefell v. Hodges, a landmark case for marriage equality nationwide.

###