In a historic ruling, the US Supreme Court has decided that workers can no longer be fired on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The 6-3 decision, which was made on Monday, is a monumental step towards equality by offering protection to LGBTQ workers from employment discrimination under federal law for the first time.
The US Supreme Court has made a landmark decision protecting LGBTQ workers from employment discrimination under federal law.
Until this point, half the country’s workers were protected under local laws, though the nation lacked any unifying federal law that explicitly prevented workers from being fired on the basis of their sexual orientation.
The ruling was a combined decision on three separate cases, brought forward by three individuals who all claimed they were all fired for being gay or transgender. The central question being considered by the court was whether the term “sex” extends to gender identity and sexual orientation when used in the federal anti-discrimination law that applies to workforces of 15 people or more.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, appointed to the court by Donald Trump, concluded in the ruling that it did, arguing that “it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.”
The decision is a blockbuster moment, with Gorsuch going down in history for changing the lives of more than 7 million LGBTQ individuals living and working in the US.
