LGBTQ Workers Protected from Workplace Discrimination in Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decision

All employees should be paid a living wage, be safe from workplace hazards, and be free from workplace discrimination.  An integral part of this belief is the idea that no person should be denied a job or fired because of who they are or who they love. Today, a historic and yet long overdue decision was reached by the United States Supreme Court, finding that the  Civil Rights Act’s ban on job discrimination based upon a person’s  sex includes both sexual orientation and gender identity.

Before today, in more than half the states employees could be fired for no other reason than their sexual orientation or gender identity, both of which have absolutely nothing to do with an employee’s ability to perform their job. This profound discrimination had no place in our society, and we are elated that it will now be prohibited nationwide.

This historic decision would have been monumental at any time, but it is all the more critical coming during the COVID-19 pandemic when unemployment is high and the prospects of finding a new job are low.  It is also important at a time when the Trump Administration is rolling back civil rights protections for LGBTQ individuals in health care and threatening to do the same in housing.