MATTHEW LAVIETES  LGBT+ Americans have moved a step closer to winning legal protection from discrimination as the U.S. House of Representatives passed a key civil rights bill backed by President Joe Biden. By a vote of 224 to 206, the House passed the landmark Equality Act, which amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in addition to race, religion, sex and national origin. The vote closely followed party lines, with only three Republican lawmakers supporting the bill. "Without the Equality Act, this nation will never live up to its principles of…