Monday, June 15, 2020

Supreme Court Rules Civil Rights Law Protects Gay and Transgender Workers


Has Neil Gorsuch been working out? 😎

The New York Times reports:
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination, handing the movement for L.G.B.T. equality a stunning victory.  
The vote was 6 to 3, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch writing the majority opinion. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. 
The case concerned Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and sex. The question for the justices was whether that last prohibition -- discrimination “because of sex”-- applies to many millions of gay and transgender workers. 
The decision, covering two cases, was the court’s first on L.G.B.T. rights since the retirement in 2018 of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinions in all four of the court’s major gay rights decisions.
EXHALE!

Truth be told, one of the main reasons Damian and I had planned to marry in May is because we didn't want an anti-LGBTQ Supreme Court ruling tainting our ceremony. The coronavirus still persists, but this threat has now thankfully been lifted.

It’s probably hard for some people to believe -- and a little embarrassing for me to admit. But three of the happiest days in my life were on the days the Supreme Court recognized me as an equal citizen under the law. (Lawrence v. Texas; Obergefell v. Hodges; and today.) It’s easy to put on a brave face and act like you don’t care about discriminatory policies, especially when you live in a progressive part of the country where you are unlikely to be directly affected. But I cannot stress enough how demoralizing it is to have your own government say you are less than -- and how good it feels to know future generations won’t grow up with the shame I did.

Keep reading HERE.

2 comments:

Jack said...

Great news!

James Dwight Williamson said...

There seem to be a large number of happy people today, other than Alito ,Thomas and Kavanaugh!