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A significant legal ruling in 2020 set a precedent by protecting the rights of transgender workers.
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 gay and transgender employees from facing discrimination in the workplace.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who was appointed to the court by President Donald J. Trump, stated that it is against the law for an employer to terminate an individual based solely on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and four members of the court’s liberal wing also supported this ruling, resulting in a 6-3 decision.
The ruling, which consisted of a majority opinion and two dissents, was a lengthy 168 pages. President Donald J. Trump told reporters that he accepted the ruling, stating that he had read it and acknowledged that while some may have been surprised by it, they had made their decision and it must be respected. Trump also described the ruling as a strong and impactful decision.
The justices were tasked with interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. They needed to determine if the protection against discrimination based on sex also extended to gay and transgender employees, affecting millions of workers.
Justice Gorsuch stated that it was indeed the case
The author stated that when an employer fires someone for being homosexual or transgender, they are essentially firing them for characteristics or behaviors that they would not have questioned in someone of a different gender.
In his disagreement, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. stated that he found the argument to be extremely arrogant, and pointed out that there is no evidence to suggest that any member of Congress had interpreted the statutory text in that manner when the law was passed in 1964.
The law that was discussed made it illegal to discriminate against employees in the workplace based on their gender. The case being debated now focuses on the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, which is more broadly written and is 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 the Supreme Court and writing about legal news in his column called Sidebar. He studied at Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, click here.
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