House Democrats introduced the Equality Act last week, a measure that would ensure gender ideology — i.e., transgender bathrooms, forced preferred pronoun use, and biological men playing women’s sports, etc. — is cemented into federal law.

H.R. 5, which was introduced with 239 co-sponsors, states its purpose is to “prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes.”

The measure would essentially codify gender ideology into federal law.

Prohibiting discrimination and promoting equality sound virtuous, but many serious opponents — including a coalition of conservatives, feminists, lesbians, and Christians — are warning Americans the Equality Act is dangerous legislation that will do anything but create equality. In fact, the measure would likely force American women throughout the country to relinquish their rights to privacy, safety, and the ability to compete in sports “equally.”

Monica Burke of the Heritage Foundation summed up the likely effects of the Equality Act with the observation at the Daily Signal that “it actually would promote inequality by elevating the ideologies of special-interest groups to the level of protected groups in civil rights law.”

Emily Zinos, an advocate for women and children and member of Hands Across the Aisle — a group of women from across the political spectrum who have partnered to challenge the notion that gender is the same as sex — took to Twitter to warn that “if the Equality Act passes, gender identity ideology will be taught via the law, and its punitive power will ensure your compliance”:

Right now, the tenets of gender identity ideology are taught through activism and enforced by way of social ostracism.

But if the Equality Act passes, gender identity ideology will be taught via the law, and it's punitive power will ensure your compliance. https://t.co/taH7rrTCvR — Emily Zinos (@emily_zinos) March 18, 2019

The Equality Act has the support of at least 161 major corporations, all of which are listed on the website of Hands Across the Aisle.

Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted his support for the Equality Act:

Nobody should be discriminated against because of who they are or who they love. The #EqualityAct is a step forward—protecting everyone from discrimination in housing, employment and in the public square. We hope Congress works together to make it the law of the land. — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 13, 2019

Hands Across the Aisle responded the Equality Act is a “direct attack on women and girls”:

In the era of #MeToo, it’s hard to understand why these companies are willing to endanger women and girls by acting so deliberately to undermine the nation’s indecent exposure and voyeurism restrictions, in what are supposed to be single-sex accommodations. Is it any wonder that many of them have recently faced significant sexual harassment allegations, or had large bias or sexual harassment claims brought against them?

Kristen Waggoner, senior vice president of U.S. legal division for Alliance Defending Freedom, also observed that forced gender ideology at the federal level would be a nightmare for American women, many who, at this point in time, now take for granted the equal educational opportunities they regularly enjoy.

“If gender-identity ideology becomes the law of the land, women in all walks of life will suffer the consequences of the blatantly sexist notion that a man who adopts stereotypical feminine roles, behaviors or clothing must be treated in all respects as a woman,” Waggoner warned in an op-ed at the Hill. “Contrary to the gender identity advocates who are pushing the act, being female is not about wearing dresses, adopting other feminine stereotypes, or ‘feeling female.’”

Waggoner pointed to the recent news from Connecticut where two male high school students who claim to be female soundly defeated exceptional female athletes at a women’s track meet:

When asked what they thought about the girls losing to them, one’s advice was telling: “Run faster.” But by that standard, there shouldn’t be any separate sports for women. Women just have to run faster, jump higher and tackle harder.

The passage of the Equality Act into law would likely place the privacy and safety of American families at greater risk.

“My privacy, my daughter’s privacy and my mother’s privacy simply don’t depend on what a man thinks about his gender,” Waggoner asserted.

Burke stressed as well that the Equality Act could easily increase the risk of sexual assault.

“A federal sexual orientation and gender identity law would give male sexual predators who self-identify as females access to private facilities,” she wrote, adding, such a law “could also make victims less likely to report sexual misconduct and police less likely to get involved, for fear of being accused of discrimination.”

1. impose sexual ideology.

2. compel speech.

3. shut down charities.

4. allow more biological males to defeat girls in sports.

5. coerce medical professionals.

6. lead to more parents losing custody of their children.

7. enable sexual assault.https://t.co/KlRxP4P8El @Heritage — Ryan T. Anderson (@RyanTAnd) March 14, 2019

The safety of gender-confused children could also be at greater risk with a federal law based on gender ideology that places parental rights on the chopping block when parents refuse to consent to puberty-blocking drugs. Transgender activists are lobbying courts, with some success, to have children removed from the homes of parents who refuse to affirm their child’s self-proclaimed gender identity.

Currently, without a federal law cemented in gender ideology, 16 states have already passed laws barring gender-confused minors from treatment with mental health providers who might actually attempt to help them evaluate their claim to be of a gender that is inconsistent with their biological sex. Ethical mental health specialists in those states now must fear for their livelihood if they do not immediately affirm a gender-confused child’s “new” gender identity. The Equality Act could ensure no child in any state who is gender-confused can receive the counseling he or she needs.

Resistance to the Equality Act isn't evidence of any particular political affiliation, it's evidence of your rational capacity. "People across the spectrum oppose gender identity ideology because no one really believes in human sex change."@NatashaCharthttps://t.co/6xrr4JwPEd — Emily Zinos (@emily_zinos) March 15, 2019

For Americans of faith, the Equality Act is a nightmare.

“Millions of American women hold to basic principles of privacy, sexuality and marriage,” Waggoner wrote. “For many of us in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, our faith informs our views on mixing with the opposite sex in privacy areas and prevents us from expressing a message or celebrating an event contrary to our faith.”

“This legislation is bad news for everyone,” Waggoner concluded, “and no token carve-outs or religious exemptions can relieve the array of wrongs advanced by the Equality Act.”