Chris Smith Votes Against Equal Pay

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed HR7 - the Paycheck Fairness Act. Despite his prior support, Republican Chris Smith voted against this bill.

Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey’s 4th congressional district voted yes on comparable legislation many times in his career. In fact, as recently as March 2019 Smith supported an incredibly similar bill which aimed to provide women with equal pay for equal work.

Why, then, did Smith vote no this time? There is one marked difference in this bill: This version defines sex as “sex stereotypes, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.”

Smith has a long history of voting against the rights and dignity of those in the LGBTQIA community. The most logical explanation for his change of heart is that the inclusion of a broader definition of sex made voting for equal pay untenable. He would rather vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act than provide protections for people he doesn’t approve of.

The purpose of the Paycheck Fairness Act is and has always been to end wage discrimination. Chris Smith’s no vote says to his constituents that it is acceptable to pay people differently not because of their skill or their experience, but because of their gender identity and sexual orientation.

Everyone deserves equal pay for equal work. The fact that Representative Smith would actively promote discrimination is an insult to all of us who want to be paid what we deserve, not what someone else deems our humanity to be worth.