Human Rights Campaign Applauds Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Enforcing Equal Credit Opportunity Act to Prohibit Discrimination Against LGBTQ People

by HRC Staff •

Post submitted by Viet Tran (he/him/they/them), former HRC Press Secretary

HRC responded to the news that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released an interpretive rule to enforce the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This announcement follows the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s enforcement of the Fair Housing Act to prohibit LGBTQ discrimination consistent with implementing Bostock v. Clayton County per President Biden’s Executive Order signed on Day One of his presidency.

Today, thanks to the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau and President Biden, LGBTQ people can no longer be denied a loan or a credit card because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This announcement implementing the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling and applying it to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act will make a huge impact on the lives of LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people and LGBTQ people of color who face disproportionate rates of discrimination. From Day One, the Biden administration has made unprecedented and immediate changes to the lives of the 11 million LGBTQ people across the country and we look forward to continuing our work together with the president and his administration moving forward.

Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign

The interpretive rule adopts the Supreme Court’s determination in Bostock v. Clayton County that federal law prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sex also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Supreme Court’s analysis is appropriately applied to all federal laws that prohibit sex discrimination including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits lenders from taking into account a persons protected characteristics, such as race or sex, when making a determination about extending credit. Instead, the determination must be made solely based on credit worthiness. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act covers credit decisions such as for credit cards, home loans, student loans, small business loans, and car loans.

On Day One, President Joe Biden issued the most substantive, wide-ranging LGBTQ executive order in U.S. history that implements the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. The Executive Order will have a real and practical impact on the day-to-day lives of the approximately 11 million LGBTQ adults and millions more LGBTQ youth in the United States.

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