Congressional Equality Caucus
The Congressional Equality Caucus, formerly the Congressional LGBTQ+ Caucus, is a caucus in the US Congress focused on advancing LGBTQ rights in the United States. It was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank on June 4, 2008. The caucus is chaired by the most senior openly LGBTQ member of Congress and is co-chaired by the other openly-LGBTQ members of the House of Representatives; during the 119th Congress, the caucus is chaired by Representative Mark Takano and is co-chaired by representatives Becca Balint, Angie Craig, Sharice Davids, Robert Garcia,Julie Johnson, Sarah McBride, Chris Pappas, Mark Pocan, Ritchie Torres, Emily Randall, and Eric Sorensen.
At the beginning of the 119th Congress, the Congressional Equality Caucus is the largest caucus in the United States House of Representatives with , the most the caucus has ever started a Congress with. In the 118th Congress, the Equality Caucus had a peak membership of 195.
Members of the Equality Caucus have passed several notable pieces of legislation to expand or codify LGBTQ rights into federal law, including the Respect for Marriage Act and the Equality Act.
Mission
The mission of the caucus is to work for LGBTQI+ rights, the repeal of laws discriminatory against LGBTQI+ persons, the elimination of hate-motivated violence, and improved health and well-being for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. The caucus serves as a resource for members of Congress, their staffs, and the public on LGBTQI+ issues. Unlike the Congressional Black Caucus, famous for admitting only Black members, the Equality Caucus admits any member of Congress who is willing to advance LGBTQI+ rights, regardless of their sexual identity or orientation. Historically, the caucus is co-chaired by every openly-LGBTQI+ member of Congress.Equality PAC
In February 2016, caucus leadership formed the Equality PAC to support candidates running for federal office who are LGBTQI+ or seek to advance LGBTQI+ rights. On March 14, 2016, the board of the Equality PAC voted to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.Task forces
During the 114th United States Congress, the caucus formed the Transgender Equality Task Force and the LGBTQ+ Aging Issues Task Force.In the 119th Congress, the TETF is co-chaired by Pramila Jayapal and Sara Jacobs and is committed to pushing for legislative and administrative action to ensure that transgender people are treated equally and with dignity and respect.
The LGBTQI+ Aging Issues Task Force is chaired by Suzanne Bonamici in the 119th Congress and works to push for legislative and administrative action to protect the dignity and security of elderly LGBTQI+ people.
The was established in the 119th Congress to "serve as a central organizing point in Congress for advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ around the world, including by responding to efforts to criminalize LGBTQI+ identities" and is co-chaired by Robert Garcia, Julie Johnson, and Sarah McBride.
Membership
The below table summarizes the number of caucus members by party over a number of legislative sessions; the drop in membership numbers in the 114th Congress was predominantly due to this being the first year that caucus members were charged fees for their membership :| Congress | Democratic | Republican | Total |
| 111th | 90 | 1 | 91 |
| 112th | 101 | 3 | 104 |
| 113th | 112 | 2 | 114 |
| 114th | 55 | 0 | 55 |
| 115th | 113 | 2 | 115 |
| 116th | 164 | 1 | 165 |
| 117th | 175 | 0 | 175 |
| 118th | 195 | 0 | 195 |
| 119th | 192 | 0 | 195 |
Chairs
The CEC has every openly-LGBTQI+ member as co-chairs. It was initially founded in 2008 under Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank, who both departed the House in 2013. Jared Polis was then the most senior LGBT member, and his office served as host for its website and congressional staff support alongside lead sponsorship of its marquee bill until his departure from the House in 2019. These duties were taken up by David Cicilline, the lead sponsor of the Equality Act. In 2021, Cicilline was being described as the lead chair among the co-chairs through the end of the 117th Congress in January 2021. Mark Pocan was then formally named as chair for the 118th Congress, stating the caucus had moved to a rotating system where the most senior co-chair would formally become the lead chair for a congressional term. Mark Takano, who now leads the Equality Act in the U.S. House, was then named as chair for the 119th Congress.| Start | End | Chair | District |
| 2008 | 2013 | WI-02 | |
| 2008 | 2013 | MA-04 | |
| 2013 | 2019 | CO-02 | |
| 2019 | 2023 | RI-01 | |
| 2023 | 2025 | WI-02 | |
| 2025 | present | CA-39 |
119th Congress
Chair
- Mark Takano
Co-chairs
- Becca Balint
- Angie Craig
- Sharice Davids
- Robert Garcia
- Julie Johnson
- Sarah McBride
- Chris Pappas
- Mark Pocan
- Emily Randall
- Eric Sorensen
- Ritchie Torres
Vice chairs
- Suzanne Bonamici
- Judy Chu
- Maxine Dexter
- Lloyd Doggett
- Lizzie Fletcher
- Sara Jacobs
- Pramila Jayapal
- Raja Krishnamoorthi
- Ted Lieu
- Scott Peters
- Chellie Pingree
- Mike Quigley
- Jamie Raskin
- Andrea Salinas
- Linda Sánchez
- Mary Gay Scanlon
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz
- Lateefah Simon
- Darren Soto
- Maxine Waters
Members
- Alma Adams
- Pete Aguilar
- Gabe Amo
- Yassamin Ansari
- Jake Auchincloss
- Nanette Barragán
- Joyce Beatty
- Wesley Bell
- Ami Bera
- Don Beyer
- Brendan Boyle
- Shontel Brown
- Julia Brownley
- Nikki Budzinski
- Salud Carbajal
- André Carson
- Troy Carter
- Greg Casar
- Ed Case
- Sean Casten
- Kathy Castor
- Joaquin Castro
- Gil Cisneros
- Yvette Clarke
- Emanuel Cleaver
- Steve Cohen
- Lou Correa
- Jim Costa
- Joe Courtney
- Jasmine Crockett
- Jason Crow
- Danny K. Davis
- Madeleine Dean
- Diana DeGette
- Rosa DeLauro
- Suzan DelBene
- Chris Deluzio
- Mark DeSaulnier
- Debbie Dingell
- Sarah Elfreth
- Veronica Escobar
- Adriano Espaillat
- Dwight Evans
- Bill Foster
- Valerie Foushee
- Lois Frankel
- Laura Friedman
- Maxwell Frost
- John Garamendi
- Chuy García
- Sylvia Garcia
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
- Laura Gillen
- Jared Golden
- Dan Goldman
- Jimmy Gomez
- Josh Gottheimer
- Al Green
- Adelita Grijalva
- Jahana Hayes
- Pablo José Hernández
- Jim Himes
- Steven Horsford
- Chrissy Houlahan
- Val Hoyle
- Jared Huffman
- Glenn Ivey
- Hank Johnson
- Sydney Kamlager-Dove
- Bill Keating
- Robin Kelly
- Tim Kennedy
- Ro Khanna
- Greg Landsman
- Rick Larsen
- John B. Larson
- George Latimer
- Summer Lee
- Susie Lee
- Teresa Leger Fernandez
- Mike Levin
- Sam Liccardo
- Zoe Lofgren
- Stephen F. Lynch
- Seth Magaziner
- John Mannion
- Doris Matsui
- Lucy McBath
- April McClain Delaney
- Jennifer McClellan
- Kristen McDonald Rivet
- Morgan McGarvey
- LaMonica McIver
- Gregory Meeks
- Rob Menendez
- Grace Meng
- Kweisi Mfume
- Dave Min
- Gwen Moore
- Joseph Morelle
- Kelly Morrison
- Jared Moskowitz
- Seth Moulton
- Frank J. Mrvan
- Kevin Mullin
- Jerry Nadler
- Joe Neguse
- Donald Norcross
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- Johnny Olszewski Jr.
- Ilhan Omar
- Frank Pallone
- Jimmy Panetta
- Nancy Pelosi
- Brittany Pettersen
- Nellie Pou
- Ayanna Pressley
- Delia Ramirez
- Josh Riley
- Luz Rivas
- Deborah Ross
- Raul Ruiz
- Pat Ryan
- Jan Schakowsky
- Brad Schneider
- Hillary Scholten
- Kim Schrier
- Bobby Scott
- David Scott
- Terri Sewell
- Brad Sherman
- Adam Smith
- Melanie Stansbury
- Greg Stanton
- Haley Stevens
- Marilyn Strickland
- Suhas Subramanyam
- Eric Swalwell
- Emilia Sykes
- Shri Thanedar
- Bennie Thompson
- Dina Titus
- Rashida Tlaib
- Jill Tokuda
- Paul Tonko
- Norma Torres
- Lori Trahan
- Derek Tran
- Lauren Underwood
- Juan Vargas
- Gabe Vasquez
- Marc Veasey
- Nydia Velázquez
- Eugene Vindman
- James Walkinshaw
- Bonnie Watson Coleman
- George Whitesides
- Nikema Williams
- Frederica Wilson
Former co-chairs
- Tammy Baldwin
- David Cicilline
- Barney Frank
- Mondaire Jones
- Sean Patrick Maloney
- Jared Polis
- Kyrsten Sinema
- Katie Hill
Former members
- Neil Abercrombie
- Rob Andrews
- Gary Ackerman
- Karen Bass
- Xavier Becerra
- Shelley Berkley
- Howard Berman
- Tim Bishop
- Earl Blumenauer
- Lisa Blunt Rochester
- Jamaal Bowman
- Bob Brady
- Bruce Braley
- Anthony Brindisi
- Anthony Brown
- Cori Bush
- Cheri Bustos
- Yadira Caraveo
- Tony Cárdenas
- Matt Cartwright
- Lois Capps
- Michael Capuano
- Gil Cisneros
- Katherine Clark
- Hansen Clarke
- Gerry Connolly
- John Conyers
- TJ Cox
- Charlie Crist
- Joe Cunningham
- Carlos Curbelo
- Susan Davis
- Peter DeFazio
- Bill Delahunt
- John Delaney
- Rosa DeLauro
- Antonio Delgado
- Val Demings
- Ted Deutch
- Mike Doyle
- Keith Ellison
- Eliot Engel
- Elizabeth Esty
- Chaka Fattah
- Bob Filner
- Abby Finkenauer
- Marcia L. Fudge
- Chuy García
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Ruben Gallego
- Gabby Giffords
- Charlie Gonzalez
- Luis Gutierrez
- Deb Haaland
- Josh Harder
- Kai Kahele
- Janice Hahn
- Colleen Hanabusa
- Richard L. Hanna
- Phil Hare
- Jane Harman
- Alcee Hastings
- Nan Hayworth
- Denny Heck
- Martin Heinrich
- Maurice Hinchey
- Mazie Hirono
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
- Rush Holt Jr.
- Steve Israel
- Jeff Jackson
- Sheila Jackson Lee
- Hakeem Jeffries
- Eddie Bernice Johnson
- Joe Kennedy III
- Patrick J. Kennedy
- Ruben Kihuen
- Dan Kildee
- Mary Jo Kilroy
- Andy Kim
- Dennis Kucinich
- Conor Lamb
- James Langevin
- Barbara Lee
- Andy Levin
- Sander Levin
- John Lewis
- Dave Loebsack
- Alan Lowenthal
- Nita Lowey
- Elaine Luria
- Michelle Lujan Grisham
- Stephen Lynch
- Dan Maffei
- Tom Malinowski
- Carolyn Maloney
- Ben McAdams
- Carolyn McCarthy
- Betty McCollum
- Jim McDermott
- Jim McGovern
- Don McEachin
- Michael McMahon
- Jerry McNerney
- Michael R. McNulty
- George Miller
- Jim Moran
- Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
- Chris Murphy
- Patrick Murphy
- Patrick Murphy
- Stephanie Murphy
- Grace Napolitano
- Marie Newman
- Beto O'Rourke
- Bill Pascrell
- Ed Perlmutter
- Gary Peters
- Katie Porter
- Kathleen Rice
- Laura Richardson
- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
- Max Rose
- Steven Rothman
- Harley Rouda
- Gregorio Sablan
- Loretta Sanchez
- John Sarbanes
- Adam Schiff
- Kurt Schrader
- Allyson Schwartz
- José E. Serrano
- Joe Sestak
- Donna Shalala
- Chris Shays
- Carol Shea-Porter
- Elissa Slotkin
- Hilda Solis
- Pete Stark
- Betty Sutton
- Xochitl Torres Small
- Edolphus Towns
- Jeff Van Drew
- Chris Van Hollen
- Tim Walz
- Peter Welch
- Robert Wexler
- Jennifer Wexton
- Lynn Woolsey
- David Wu
- Raúl Grijalva