June 16, 2020 | Sex & Society

LGBT worker rights protected in SCOTUS ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court has declared that employers cannot discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The ruling, which was handed down yesterday, was written by Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Associate Justices Sonya Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan in the 6 to 3 ruling.

The title case involved Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., which centered on child welfare advocate Gerald Bostock, who was fired "for conduct unbecoming a county employee" after he joined a gay recreational softball league.

Gorsuch wrote: “Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. 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.”

Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Alito argued: "There is only one word for what the Court has done today: legislation. [...] If every single living American had been surveyed in 1964, it would have been hard to find any who thought that discrimination because of sex meant discrimination because of sexual orientation –– not to mention gender identity, a concept that was essentially unknown at the time."

"Allowing judges to rewrite the Civil Rights Act to add gender identity and sexual orientation as protected classes poses a grave threat to religious liberty," whined FRC head Tony Perkins. "We've already witnessed in recent years how courts have used the redefinition of words as a battering ram to crush faith-based businesses and organizations."

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis countered, "LGBTQ Americans should be able to work without fear of losing jobs because of who they are. The decision gives us hope that as a country we can unite for the common good and continue the fight for LGBTQ acceptance. Especially at a time when the Trump Administration is rolling back the rights of transgender people and anti-transgender violence continues to plague our nation, this decision is a step towards affirming the dignity of transgender people, and all LGBTQ people.”

Finally, some great news for a change!

US Supreme Court backs protection for LGBT workers [BBC]

Ellen DeGeneres, Taylor Swift, more stars celebrate 'historic' Supreme Court LGBTQ ruling [USA Today]

Supreme Court Rules LGBTQ+ Workplace Discrimination Illegal [OUT]