Earlier today, in a highly-anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay, lesbian and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. The 6-3 opinion was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Dissenting opinions were penned by Justices Alito and Kavanaugh.
The decision at hand involved two sets of cases: Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., No. 17-1618 and Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, No. 17-1623 (lawsuits by gay men who claimed they were fired because of their sexual orientation), and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 18-107 (a suit by a transgender woman who claimed she was fired when she announced that she would embrace her gender identity and wear women’s clothing while at work).
Although the statutory text of Title VII does not explicitly include sexual orientation, gender identity, or transgender status as protected characteristics, the Act does bar employment discrimination because of one's race, color, religion, national origin and sex. That last prohibition – discrimination "because of sex" – and its application to gay and transgender workers was the core question facing the Justices. In his opinion, Justice Gorsuch explained:
"An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids."
The ruling extends significant employment protections to millions of LGBTQ workers across the nation and marks one of the Court's most significant decisions ever on the issue of civil rights for gay, lesbian and transgender individuals.
To read the Supreme Court's ruling, click here.
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