SCOTUS: Civil Rights for All LGBTQ Americans (Bostock v. Clayton County)

On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision regarding LGBTQ rights. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also protected LGBTQ Americans from workplace discrimination.

The case was Bostock v. Clayton County, where Bostock was fired from the juvenile court system in Georgia after soliciting interest in a gay baseball league at work. Bostock claimed that this was violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court sided with him, ruling against Clayton County of Georgia.

When the Trump Administration and the Republican Party gained control of the Federal Government in 2016, many feared that gay and lesbian rights and same-sex marriage rights were in danger of being taken away. As such, it was hugely surprising to everyone, especially gay rights activists, that two conservative justices sided with them and a Republican appointee wrote the ruling.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s first justice nominee, wrote the majority opinion. The opinion was as follows:

“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 [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] forbids. There is simply no escaping the role intent plays here: Just as sex is necessarily a but-for cause when an employer discriminates against homosexual or transgender employees, an employer who discriminates on these grounds inescapably intends to rely on sex in its decisionmaking.”

The decision comes as a major defeat to the Trump Administration. The administration had long argued that Title VII did not extend to claims of gender identity and sexual orientation. With regard to this decision, Trump said that the decision was “very powerful” and that “some people were surprised.” He continued that “they’ve ruled and we live with the decision of the Supreme Court.”

With this ruling, protections will be extended to millions of workers nationwide. Approximately 1 million transgender workers and 7.1 million LGB workers will now be protected under the Civil Rights Act. Before this, it was perfectly legal for LGBTQ people to be dismissed from work or be refused healthcare or housing services. In fact, in 30+ states, there was no law ensuring protections of LGBTQ people. This ruling, although not explicitly stating it, will ensure that LGBTQ people are treated fairly when receiving services from the government.

From today onward, it will now be illegal for employers to fire someone because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

The Supreme Court victory is a huge step forward for gay rights activists. Since same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide in 2015, the movement had continued to garner support, with over 82% of Americans (including 71% of Republicans) agreeing that protections should be extended to gay and lesbian people, according to be a CBS poll.

However, dissenters criticized the decision strongly. Many conservative networks blasted Gorsuch for siding with the liberal justices and claimed this decision was beyond the Court’s power. The conservative Judicial Crisis Network claimed that the decision was “not judging,” but was instead “legislating,” and that it was a “brute force attack on our constitutional system.” The dissenting justices (Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh) wrote dissents. In Alito and Thomas’s dissent, they said that this decision was “legislation” and was “preposterous.”

With the Supreme Court considering abortion, DACA (immigration policy), religious liberty, and Trump’s refusal to publicize his finances, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Make sure to subscribe to the blog for more.