A ruling issued today by the US Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBT Americans from employment discrimination in a 6-3 decision. One of the three cases brought before the court was that of Aimee Stephens’, a transgender woman who was fired from her job in a funeral home. Ms. Stephens died last month from complications related to kidney disease.
Agreeing with the plaintiffs were Chief Justice Roberts joined by Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, Ginsberg, Breyer, and Gorsuch. Dissenting based on the belief that this was legislating from the bench were Justices Alito, Thomas, and Kavanaugh.
The ramifications of this decision could be immense. The current policy keeping transgender people from joining the military could be revisited as a result of today’s decision. The majority opinion was written by President Trump’s first judicial appointment, Justice Gorsuch. The major news outlets all have detailed reporting of all the cases, as well as excerpts from the affirming and dissenting decisions written by the Justices.