Stunning Supreme Court ruling on LGBT employees could have far-reaching impact

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that discrimination against LGBTQ employees is prohibited. “The ruling is truly historic, and in the simplest terms, now all LGBTQ people are protected in the workplace from discrimination,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director for policy and action at the National Center for Transgender Equality. “But the other notable part about the decision is the interpretation of the word ‘sex’ to include sexual orientation and gender identity, which sets us up for more wins in housing, education, and health care, and that’s what makes this ruling truly phenomenal.”

The ruling, in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, centered on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace; the question was whether or not it protects LGBTQ workers. The cases before the court involved three employees who faced workplace discrimination: Gerald Bostock and Donald Zarda, who both lost their jobs when their employers found out they were gay, and Aimee Stephens, who was fired when her employer learned she was transgender. (Zarda died in 2014 and Stephens died in May.)

"This ruling for LGBTQ people has far more reaching implications than the marriage equality decision,” said Cathy Renna, communications director at the National LGBTQ Task Force. “We’ve been fighting for decades for workplace equality. It’s also a reminder that fairness and equality can prevail. And this sends a strong message to the Senate that most people don’t believe in inequality. Before the ruling, many people didn’t realize that you could be fired in many states just for being LGBTQ, so this is also a huge educational wake-up call.”

Prior to Monday’s ruling, only 22 states and D.C. had laws that explicitly prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. According to LGBT People in the Workplace: Demographics, Experiences and Pathways to Equity, a report by Movement Advancement Project and the National LGBTQ Workers Center, LGBTQ workers experience high rates of discrimination in the workplace and when looking for a job, and 27% of transgender workers reported being fired, not hired, or denied promotion.

“While most employers were already supportive of LGBTQ employees, there are always some who will only do the right thing when the law requires it, and for those employers, the law makes it clear they cannot discriminate,” said Ineke Mushovic, executive director of Movement Advancement Project. “There is a tremendous relief in simply knowing that you cannot be unfairly fired. The mental burden of not being protected is significant. For LGBTQ workers, yesterday’s ruling means that they can bring their full selves to work — they don’t have to worry about mentioning their spouse or partner at work or turning down a promotion in another state because the state lacks nondiscrimination protections. Knowing that federal law protects LGBTQ people from discrimination at work also opens possibilities for LGBTQ youth who may have worried about where to live and whether and how they can pursue their dream jobs or provide for their families in the future.”

The ruling comes just days after the Trump administration issued a final rule that rolls back health care protections for transgender people, those seeking abortions, and people with limited English proficiency, and limits nondiscrimination protections for everyone. “The difference between Sunday and Monday is that discriminatory laws and rules, like the military ban and the HHS rule issued on Friday, are now all on shakier ground, and subject to greater scrutiny,” said Heng-Lehtinen. “What happens when we achieve LGBTQ equality in any area of life is that non-LGBTQ people now realize that the sky doesn’t fall. The Trump administration has been relentless in its attacks against trans people, but overnight, we are now in a much stronger position to fight back."

Advocates are hopeful that the ruling could have a positive ripple effect in other legal cases. “The Court’s ruling today is hugely positive for our challenges to the transgender military ban, as Alito’s dissent expressly mentions,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “A strong majority of the Court, including Chief Justice Roberts, squarely held that discrimination because a person is transgender is sex discrimination. There is every reason to believe the Court will adopt the same reasoning in an equal protection challenge, which means the government is highly unlikely to be able to successfully defend the ban. This validates the rulings of all four federal district courts that the military ban is impermissible sex discrimination. In a nutshell, today’s ruling has greatly strengthened our case that the ban is unconstitutional.”

The decision could also impact an important Trump ally: the religious right. His administration has pushed to expand religious exemptions to antidiscrimination provisions; this has allowed faith-based organizations, including schools, to exclude LGBTQ employees. After Monday, that could all change. “Trump has made promises to the evangelicals and he’s not holding up his end of the bargain,” said Renna.

There are still no federal laws to ban discrimination in many areas of life, including in public accommodations such as stores and restaurants, and in some federally funded programs including adoption agencies. The Equality Act, which is stalled in the Senate, would fill these gaps. “Our work is not finished,” said Vivian Topping, director of advocacy and civic engagement at Equality Federation. “As the recent protests against racial injustice have reminded everyone, our nation has much to do to dismantle legal and cultural systems of oppression. Just last week, two Black transgender women, Dominique Fells and Riah Milton, were murdered. There is an epidemic of violence against Black transgender women in our country, and this decision doesn’t change that. And while LGBTQ people now have legal protection from discrimination at work, we still have a long way to go.”

However, Monday’s ruling was a watershed moment for many reasons, including its “respectful treatment of the transgender plaintiff, Aimee Stephens,” said Minter. “The Court showed genuine empathy for Aimee’s identity as a transgender woman and her decision to transition. The Court’s unhesitating reference to Aimee as a woman marks the first time that the Supreme Court has unequivocally recognized and respected the identity of an openly transgender person. That is a real landmark, and one that will set a positive example for other courts across the country and for our entire society.”