
Civil Rights Law Protects Gay and Transgender Workers, Supreme Court Rules - aspenmayer
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html
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aspenmayer
> The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law [Civil
> Rights Act of 1964] protects gay and transgender workers from workplace
> discrimination, handing the movement for L.G.B.T. equality a stunning
> victory.

> “An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender
> defies the law,” Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote for the majority in the
> 6-to-3 ruling.

> Until Monday’s decision, it was legal in more than half the states to fire
> workers for being gay, bisexual or transgender. The vastly consequential
> decision extended workplace protections to millions of people across the
> nation, continuing a series of Supreme Court victories for gay rights even
> after President Trump transformed the court with two appointments.

> “After today’s decision,” Justice Alito wrote, “plaintiffs may claim that
> the failure to use their preferred pronoun violates one of the federal laws
> prohibiting sex discrimination.”

> “Although the court does not want to think about the consequences of its
> decision, we will not be able to avoid those issues for long,” he concluded
> “The entire federal judiciary will be mired for years in disputes about the
> reach of the court’s reasoning.”

> Justice Gorsuch responded that the court’s ruling was narrow. “We do not
> purport to address bathrooms, locker rooms or anything else of the kind,” he
> wrote. “Whether other policies and practices might or might not qualify as
> unlawful discrimination or find justifications under other provisions of
> Title VII are questions for future cases, not these.”

> He added that Title VII itself included protections for religious employers
> and that a separate federal law and the First Amendment also allow religious
> groups latitude in their employment decisions.

Background:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964)

The ruling:

[https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf)

For those who have trouble with the link:

[https://web.archive.org/web/20200615230511/https://www.nytim...](https://web.archive.org/web/20200615230511/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-
transgender-workers-supreme-court.html)

