The Supreme Court today ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws discrimination “because of sex,” covers LGBTQ employees.
In a 6-3 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the four more liberal members of the court in ruling that employers cannot fire, or refuse to hire, any person because of their sexual orientation.
Justice Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion:
“Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. 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 forbids.”
Joining Roberts and Gorsuch were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
For over 50 years, courts had ruled that the Title VII prohibition on discrimination because of sex only applied to male vs. female discrimination. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, and Brett M. Kavanaugh agreed with that view in their dissent.
The court noted that how this decision might affect religious employers was not before the court in this case, and would have to be dealt with in future cases.
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