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ANTI-LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION IS SEX DISCRIMINATION

Conservative Justice Gorsuch’s Remark During Supreme Court Arguments May Give LGBTQ Activists and Allies Hope

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There is little news coming out of Tuesday morning’s Supreme Court oral arguments in three cases that will determine if LGBTQ people have equal rights or can be fired merely for being LGBTQ. But a surprise remark is giving some LGBTQ people a drop of hope. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch has at the very least given the appearance he just might understand that anti-gay discrimination is sex discrimination.

“First half of Scotus LGBT job-bias case suggests that gay-rights advocates have a least a chance of winning over Gorsuch (+ the four liberals),” tweets Bloomberg News Supreme Court reporter Greg Stohr. He sums up Gorsuch’s seemingly positive remark in this tweet:

At issue right now is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and if its stated ban on sex discrimination includes lesbian, gay, and bisexual people (the second hour of oral arguments focus on transgender workers’ rights).

But Gorsuch’s remark is deeper than what it says at face value.

Related: The Supreme Court Is Debating if LGBTQ People Can Be Fired for Being LGBTQ – Here’s What It Looks Like Outside

Southern Methodist University Law School Professor Grant Hayden, who focuses on employment law, explains that it’s not an all-or-nothing issue. And he says if Gorsuch believes what he reportedly said, “that should be the ballgame” – presumably, a win for gay rights.

Hayden says his legal view is that sexual orientation and transgender discrimination “is necessarily sex discrimination in violation of Title VII.”

Of course, no one know what will happen until the decision is handed down, presumably in June of 2020, but a glimmer of hope is better than none at all.

UPDATE: 12:59 PM ET –
MSNBC’s Pete Williams concurs that Gorsuch’s remarks may be the “best hope” for LGBTQ people.

 

Image via Wikimedia

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ANTI-LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION IS SEX DISCRIMINATION

Trump Just Erased Any Mention of LGBTQ People from a Major U.S. Foreign Aid Policy

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4 years ago

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August 22, 2020

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) — an independent agency that administers $27 billion in foreign-aid programs, including development, poverty and disaster relief — has removed all references of LGBTQ people, contraception and gender identity (an inclusive term acknowledging transgender people) from its revised draft of its Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy.

The 2012 version of the policy included these mentions, but the erasure is just the latest move from the Trump Administration in continually erasing LGBTQ people and reproductive rights from U.S. policy.

The revised draft removes all of the 2012 version’s mentions of gender identity which had been defined in the document as “an individual’s internal, personal sense of being male or female” isn’t necessarily determined by biological and physiological features.

The 2012 version also explicitly mentioned LGBTQ people in lists of organizations that USAID should partner with, types of people specifically targeted for discrimination, and forms of gender-based violence that concern USAID. All those explicit mentions have since been erased.

LGBTQ Nation notes:

The 2012 policy lists several factors that can further marginalize people, and it includes sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV status, as well as ethnicity, disability, and lack of income. The 2020 policy only mentions “those who face discrimination” without expanding on who, exactly, could face discrimination.

ProPublica mentioned the revised draft removed several references to contraception used in the 2012 version as well.

Timothy Meisburger — USAID’s director of the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance — wrote that the staff’s duty is to “faithfully execute the policy of the current Administration.” Considering that the Trump Administration has doggedly pursued policies that target trans people and LGBTQ rights, the erasure of our community from the government documents should come as little surprise even though it’s totally disappointing.

People around the world are targeted for violence and harassment for not conforming to their perceived sex or gender, but now USAID won’t be directed to specifically help such people, leaving them subject to discrimination while the U.S. focuses its efforts elsewhere.

In June, Trump appointed Merritt Corrigan to serve as deputy White House liaison at the USAID even though she had written tweets and articles declaring that a “homo-empire” was driving the U.S. and other countries towards a “tyrannical LGBT agenda.” She was subsequently fired, but only after USAID condemned news outlets for reporting about what she had written.

 

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ANTI-LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION IS SEX DISCRIMINATION

The Supreme Court Is Debating if LGBTQ People Can Be Fired for Being LGBTQ – Here’s What It Looks Like Outside

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5 years ago

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October 8, 2019

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Starting at 10 AM Tuesday the Supreme Court was scheduled to begin listening to oral arguments in three landmark cases that will form the foundation of a decision determining if LGBTQ people can be fired merely for being LGBTQ. The ruling, which likely will not be handed down until June of 2020, will have far reaching implications for many Americans, whether or not they are LGBTQ.

In short, the court is expected to decide if Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex, applies to people who are, identify as, or even are perceived as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender. Two combined cases center on workplace discrimination against people who are gay. One case centers on workplace discrimination against people who are transgender.

This chart simply explains if the court will decide the law agrees with this most basic and obvious argument:

As usual, there are no photos or recordings allowed inside the Court, and the Court will not even release audio of the oral arguments today.

But we can take a look at what’s going on outside the court – and it’s major. There are no official crowd estimates but it sure looks like there are thousands of LGBTQ people, allies, and supporters who showed up.

Among them, Aimee Stephens, the transgender woman at the center of one of today’s SCOTUS cases, Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC, who got some support this morning from Laverne Cox.

The Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson is inside the court, but posted this photo this morning:

This appears to be a live feed from outside the court:

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