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A landmark ruling in 2020 has set a significant legal precedent in favor of protecting the rights of transgender employees.
The highest court in the United States has made a significant ruling on the rights of transgender individuals in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County.
The 2020 ruling stated that a significant civil rights law safeguards individuals who identify as gay or transgender from facing discrimination in the workplace.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who was appointed by President Donald J. Trump and is part of the Supreme Court majority ruling, stated that it is against the law for an employer to terminate someone for being gay or transgender. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., a conservative, and the four liberal members of the court also supported this decision.
The majority opinion and two dissenting opinions together were 168 pages long. President Donald J. Trump told reporters that he agreed with the ruling. He mentioned that he had read the decision and some people were surprised by it, but ultimately they made their decision and he respected it. He also commented that he thought 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 employment based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. They needed to determine if this prohibition against discrimination based on sex also extended to gay and transgender workers.
Justice Gorsuch stated that it was indeed the case
The writer argued that when an employer terminates an employee for being homosexual or transgender, they are 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 was no evidence to suggest that any member of Congress understood the law in that way when it was passed in 1964.
The law mentioned in the text prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on gender. The case being discussed on Wednesday involves the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, which is broadly written and used to create a framework for analysis rather than strict rules. Despite this, Justice Alito suggested that the court’s decision in this case could influence future constitutional cases.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who reports on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar, which focuses on legal news. He attended 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, visit his page.
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