On June 15, 2020, in the landmark case, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, No. 17-1618, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an employer who fires an employee merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The definition of “sex” in Title VII was at issue. In a 6-to-3 ruling, the Supreme Court found that the provision of the Civil Rights Act that bans employment discrimination on the basis of sex also encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity. In the decision, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, “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.” This Supreme Court decision is a tremendous victory for L.G.B.T. rights nationwide!