evidence: Biden supports the Equality Act, proposed federal legislation that would extend the nondiscrimination protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to cover discrimination "on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition of an individual, as well as because of sex-based stereotypes."[135] The legislation would protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination across the country in housing, public accommodations, public education, credit, and the jury system, in addition to current federal employment protections.[136] During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden vowed to support legislation and action to prohibit discrimination against transgender people and to combat hate crimes targeting LGBT persons, including violence and harassment against transgender people.[137][138][139] However, his administration proposed a regulation to allow schools to bar transgender athletes from competitive teams, a decision which was strongly opposed by transgender advocates.[140][141][142][143] He has criticized Republicans, and particularly Vice President Mike Pence, for using "religious freedom as an excuse to license discrimination."[138][139] He supports the Safe Schools Improvement Act, a proposed anti-bullying law.[138]