US Supreme Court Rules that Gay, Trans Employees are Protected by Civil Rights Act

The Court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that bars job discrimination because of sex encompasses bias against LGBT workers. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.” Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas dissented because discrimination based on ‘sex’ is different from discrimination based on ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender identity.’ [Whatever happened to the concept that it is a human right to choose with whom he or she wishes to associate or marry or hire – even if that choice is made on the basis of sex or race or religion or manner of speech or drinking habits, or ethical standards or body odor, or anything else that suits their fancy – so long as they do not endanger the other person’s life or liberty. Let’s get back to principles?]

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects LGBT people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT rights from a conservative court.

The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against LGBT workers.

“An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court.

Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas dissented.

“The Court tries to convince readers that it is merely enforcing the terms of the statute, but that is preposterous. Even as understood today, the concept of discrimination because of ‘sex’ is different from discrimination because of ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender identity,’” Alito wrote in a dissent that was joined by Thomas.

The outcome is expected to have a big impact for the estimated 8.1 million LGBT workers across the country because most states don’t protect them from workplace discrimination. An estimated 11.3 million LGBT people live in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA law school.

The cases were the court’s first on LGBT rights since Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement and replacement by Kavanaugh. Kennedy was a voice for gay rights and the author of the landmark ruling in 2015 that made same-sex marriage legal throughout the United States. Kavanaugh generally is regarded as more conservative.

The Trump administration had changed course from the Obama administration, which supported LGBT workers in their discrimination claims under Title VII.

During the Obama years, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had changed its longstanding interpretation of civil rights law to include discrimination against LGBT people. The law prohibits discrimination because of sex, but has no specific protection for sexual orientation or gender identity.

In recent years, some lower courts have held that discrimination against LGBT people is a subset of sex discrimination, and thus prohibited by the federal law.

Efforts by Congress to change the law have so far failed.

The Supreme Court cases involved two gay men and a transgender woman who sued for employment discrimination after they lost their jobs.

Read full article here…




University of Colorado: Christian Student Group Wins Lawsuit Allowing Them to Choose Their Own Club Leaders



Ratio Christi, a Christian group that aims to strengthen Christianity and discourse on campus, won their lawsuit against the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS), forcing the school to recognize the group as an official student organization. The original legal complaint against the university claimed that administrators told students that they could not require their group leader to be a Christian who shares their mission, violating students’ rights to free association.

The University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS) has settled a
lawsuit with a Christian student group which forces the university to
recognize the group as an official student organization.

Breitbart News reported
in February that a Christian student group at UCCS had filed a lawsuit
against their university over its refusal to recognize them as an
official student organization. This week, UCCS settled with the Ratio
Christi student group.

The original legal complaint against the university claimed that
administrators told students that they could not require their group
leader to be a Christian. “It has refused to do so specifically because
this religious organization seeks to ensure that its leaders share its
beliefs and that its members support its mission, even though other
student organizations do the same,” the complaint read.

According to a report
from The College Fix, Ratio Christi settled with UCCS. As a result of
the settlement, the University of Colorado will be forced to recognize
the group as an official student organization. Additionally, the
students will now be permitted to choose their own leaders.

Read full article here…