Did you know that only 21 states in the United States currently have laws that protect LGBTQ people against both sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace? Is it okay to legally fire someone for simply being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender?
On October 8th, the Supreme Court will begin hearing three cases that will determine the answer to that question. They will decide whether LGBTQ people are protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What they decide will greatly impact our communities.
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Video Credits:
Signed and Transcribed by Oliver Stabbe
Edited by Topher González Ávila
Closed-Captioned by Carlos Aponte-Salcedo
for the Deaf Queer Resource Center
Transcript below and also available at:
[video transcript: Oliver Stabbe is shown wearing a black sweater and white t-shirt. He is standing in front of a white wall. He signs...
Hey, all!
Letting you all know that now is a time of critical importance for the LGBTQ community to turn our attention towards the US government. October 8th, 2019, the US Supreme Court will be hearing 3 cases, the outcome of which will determine the legality of LGBTQ worker discrimination.
You may have noticed that areas across the US have different laws regarding the permissibility or illegality of LGBTQ discrimination. When there are disputes regarding the law, the US Supreme Court can interpret the law to decide what they think the law means. After the US Supreme Court has made a ruling, local law is no longer applicable and the law is to be interpreted uniformly for all Americans based on what the court has decided. Currently, less than half of the US has LGBTQ-specific protections. That means that in more than half of the states, meaning it’s possible to be fired based on your LGBTQIA identity.
October 8th, these 3 cases will be about one specific thing: The Civil Rights Act of 1964. That act is already ratified, but the interpretations of is act vary widely. Within this act is something called Title VII, which says that discrimination based on 'sex' is illegal. The question here is does 'sex' discrimination afford protections based on sexual orientation? What about based on gender identity? If the court decides that yes, LGBTQ people are covered in Title VII, it means that afterwards, discrimination against LGBTQ workers would be illegal. Gender, gender identity, and sex would not be grounds to be fired on.
So what are these 3 cases? 1. Harris Funeral Home v. EEOC. 2. Zarda v. Altitude Express. 3. Bostock .v Clayton County. The first case is about a trans person. The second and third cases are about gay men, which will be heard together by the court. Harris Funeral HOme v. EEOC is about a trans woman who was fired from her work at a funeral home after she came out as a trans woman. Zarda v. Altitude Express and Bostock v Clayton County are about gay men fired because of their sexual orientation.
Be sure to pay attention on October 8th as it will have a pivotal impact on our communities!]
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