Title VII protects LGBT workers from employment discrimination

Dear John:

What an incredible day! This morning, the Supreme Court—in an opinion ([link removed]) written by Justice Gorsuch and joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan, and Sotomayor—held that sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination are prohibited under federal employment discrimination law.

In the Court’s own words: "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 is a transformative decision that will make an enormous difference in the lives of LGBT people across the country. It is one that each of you has helped make possible through your support of the Williams Institute and other LGBT organizations over many years. As Chuck Williams said when he founded the Williams Institute, “I am doing this to end discrimination against LGBT people in all areas of law.” Today, on the eve of our 20th Anniversary, we are one giant step closer to achieving that goal.

Because of Williams Institute research, we know that LGBT employees continue to face discrimination in the workplace every day. And we know that today’s decision will help to protect over 8.1 million LGBT workers ([link removed]) (ages 16 and older) in the U.S., including 7.1 million LGB people and 1 million transgender people, from the corrosive effects of workplace discrimination. Today’s decision is particularly critical for the nearly 4.1 million of those workers who live in the 27 states that lack explicit protections against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in employment.

The decision marks a resounding affirmation by the Court that our nation’s civil rights laws are to be afforded a broad sweep and that prohibitions on sex discrimination mean what they say. It recognizes that LGBT employees can no longer be treated as second class citizens in the workplace and that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is an effective tool to address contemporary forms of employment discrimination, however their defenders attempt to characterize them.

Despite today’s victory, we know that challenges remain, in particular for the most vulnerable members of the LGBT community. But we know something else: We are here for the long haul until everyone in our communities has equal access to health and resources.

As we celebrate this victory, here are some of the challenges that lie ahead:
* FEDERAL DISCRIMINATION WORK ISN’T OVER. On Friday, the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services—the Office that I led during the Obama Administration—issued a final regulation ([link removed]) that, among other things, denies LGBT people protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in health care. I believe that the Supreme Court’s decision has effectively demolished legal arguments that prohibitions on “sex” discrimination do not include sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. But opponents of that argument will not go down without a fight. And the HHS regulation demonstrates anew how critical it is to enact the Equality Act ([link removed]) , which would make explicit prohibitions on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination not only in employment, but in education,
housing, credit, health care, public accommodations, federally funded activities, and jury service, among other areas. Congressional enactment of this legislation will once and for all confirm that LGBT people cannot be subject to discrimination anywhere in the country and will avoid the need to repeatedly fight these battles on separate fronts.
* COVID-19. The current pandemic has put LGBT people at particular risk. For example, in recent research ([link removed]) , we found that an estimated 320,000 transgender adults have underlying health conditions that could increase their risk for COVID-19-related illness, including 208,500 who have asthma, 81,100 who have diabetes, 72,700 who have heart disease, and 74,800 who have HIV. This makes it all the more imperative to fight back against the HHS rule, which is an unconscionable attack on access to vital health care services by vulnerable communities, including LGBT people.
* RACIAL JUSTICE. Over the past two weeks, we have once again been reminded of the systemic inequities and institutionalized racism that pervasively undermine the very lives of people of color, particularly Black Americans. We all know, moreover, that LGBT people of color face multiple forms of structural inequality. Our research has examined issues that disproportionately impact LGBT communities of color, including policing ([link removed]) , poverty ([link removed]) , homelessness ([link removed]) , HIV criminalization ([link removed]) , as well as disproportional representation in child welfare ([link removed]) , juvenile justice
([link removed]) , and the adult carceral system ([link removed]) . And we as an Institute are committed to doing all we can to address those barriers through, among other things, work on the impact of policing on the LGBT community, work to expand access to justice, and work with a broader community of stakeholders and groups led by people of color. We will be sharing more in the coming weeks on our concrete plans to strengthen our efforts to promote racial equity.

It is heartbreaking that neither Donald Zarda nor Aimee Stephens—the employees involved in two of the Supreme Court cases decided today—lived to see the extraordinary impact of their courage and tenacity. But their names will go in the history books for their ground-breaking legacies. And today offers us cause for huge and long-overdue celebration.

At the same time, I know you join me in recommitting ourselves to ensuring equity for all marginalized groups, most notably people of color, and to ensuring that what is now the law with regard to employment discrimination is also recognized as the law in every other sphere of activity.

All my best,
Jocelyn

============================================================
** ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** (mailto:[email protected])
The Williams Institute
UCLA School of Law
Box 951476
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1476
** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

** williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu ([link removed])
** View this email in your browser ([link removed])

** Support our work ([link removed])

** Update subscription ([link removed])
** Unsubscribe ([link removed][UNIQID]&c=daa6fdc921)

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
The Williams Institute UCLA School of Law . 1060 Veteran Ave . Suite 134 . Los Angeles, CA 90095-7092 . USA