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A significant legal ruling in 2020 set a precedent in favor of protecting the rights of transgender workers.
The Supreme Court has made a significant ruling on transgender rights in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County.
The decision made in 2020 determined that a significant law regarding civil rights safeguards employees who are gay or transgender from experiencing discrimination in the workplace.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, appointed by President Donald J. Trump, stated in a 6-3 ruling that it is illegal for an employer to fire someone for being gay or transgender. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and four liberal justices also supported this decision.
The majority opinion and two dissenting opinions were a total of 168 pages. President Donald J. Trump told reporters that he accepted the court’s decision, despite some people being surprised by it. He described the ruling as powerful and emphasized that it was final and must be respected.
The justices were tasked with interpreting a law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. They needed to determine if this law also covered discrimination against gay and transgender employees.
Justice Gorsuch stated that it was indeed the case
He wrote that an employer who dismisses someone for being homosexual or transgender is essentially firing them for characteristics or behaviors that would not be an issue if they were a different gender.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. disagreed with the argument, stating that it was incredibly arrogant. He also mentioned that there is no evidence showing that any member of Congress understood the statutory text in that way when the law was passed in 1964.
The law mentioned in the text forbade discrimination in the workplace based on gender. The case being discussed focuses on the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, which is broad in its language and has been used to create a framework for analysis rather than strict rules. Justice Alito mentioned in 2020 that the outcome of this case could have an impact on future constitutional cases.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who specializes in covering news related to the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar that focuses on legal updates. He studied at Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting his career at The New York Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak,
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