Supreme Court rules that the LGBTQ are protected from Job Discrimination under the Civil Rights Act
- sexynetworknews
- Jun 15, 2020
- 1 min read
In a 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court, LGBTQ workers have been protected from job discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Prior to the ruling, only 21 states had laws prohibiting LGBTQ job discrimination, but these laws will now be applied federally following the ruling. The ruling was made after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from Gerald Bostock, Donald Zarda and Aimee Stephens, all of who were fired from their jobs due to what they perceived as LGBTQ job discrimination.
Gerald Bostock was fired from his job in Georgia after joining a gay softball team. In addition, Donald Zarda was also fired his job as a skydiving instructor when he strapped himself to a female client, to which he told her not to worry, as he was "100 percent gay". Lastly, Aimee Stephens was fired from a funeral home in Michigan due to what her boss said was a violation of the dress code. However, Aimee was quick to suspect the real reason for her firing was a result of her transition to a woman. Unfortunetly, neither Zarda nor Stephens were alive for the Supreme Court's decision, with Stephens passing away on May 12 as a result of kidney disease.
However, many still debate if sexual orientation and transgender fall under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as many interpret the Civil Rights Act prohibition on the basis of sex to only cover male and female. The Justice Department stated, "The ordinary meaning of 'sex' is biologically male or female; it does not include sexual orientation,"
Sources:
NBC News:
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