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A significant ruling in 2020 set a precedent for the protection of transgender employees. Written by Adam Liptak.
There has been only one significant ruling by the Supreme Court regarding transgender rights, which is the case of Bostock v. Clayton County.
The decision made in 2020 stated that a significant civil rights law safeguards individuals who are gay and transgender from facing discrimination in the workplace.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who was appointed to the court 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 members of the court’s liberal wing also agreed with this decision.
The ruling consisted of a majority opinion and two dissents that totaled 168 pages. President Donald J. Trump told reporters that he accepted the ruling, mentioning that he had read the decision and some people were surprised by it. He acknowledged that they had made their ruling and that they would abide by it. Trump also commented that he believed it was a strong decision.
The justices were tasked with interpreting a law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. They needed to determine if this prohibition against discrimination based on sex also extended to include gay and transgender employees.
Justice Gorsuch stated that it was indeed the case
The author wrote that when an employer fires someone for being homosexual or transgender, they are essentially discriminating against traits or actions that they would not have questioned if the person was a different gender.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. disagreed with the argument, stating that it was incredibly arrogant. He also pointed out that there is no evidence to suggest that any member of Congress understood the law in that way when it was passed in 1964.
A law was passed that made it illegal for workplaces to discriminate based on someone’s gender. The case being discussed, however, focuses on the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, which is more broadly written and used to create a framework for analysis instead of strict rules. Justice Alito mentioned in 2020 that the outcome of this case could influence other constitutional cases.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who specializes in covering news about the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar that focuses on legal updates. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002. Learn more about Adam Liptak.
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