In a 6-3 ruling, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Monday that it is illegal to discriminate against workers in the U.S. based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The court held that an “employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.” Title VII, the landmark 1964 civil rights law, bars discrimination based on “sex” and the court has ultimately ruled that “sex” and one’s sexual orientation or gender identity are inextricably linked and therefore the protections of Title VII extends to LGBTQ workers.
Download the Court’s opinion here. The majority opinion was penned by conservative-appointee Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by Justices Roberts, Breyer, Kagan, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor.
The ruling is significant because not every state has state-level protections for gay and transgender workers like Minnesota does under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. This ruling ensures that Title VII, a federal law, will be applied consistently in every state to protect against employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.