Closer to Fine: SCOTUS Ruling Extends Employment Protections to LGBTQ Workers
June 15, 2020 - Washington D.C.
You better work. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, also applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
By Jade Esteban Estrada - Political Columnist, San Antonio Sentinel
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars sex discrimination, also applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Simply put, LGBTQ individuals are now protected against employment discrimination.
By a 6-3 vote, the court decided that a significant provision of the 55-year-old landmark ruling encompassed bias against workers who identify as LGBTQ. Justice Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas dissented.
LGBTQ leaders and advocates immediately praised the symbolic ruling.
“Millions of LGBTQ people across the country have feared losing their jobs and their livelihoods because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and today’s landmark ruling is a powerful step forward toward ending that reality,” said Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, an organization that aims to increase the number of LGBTQ people in public office.
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa described it as “a long-overdue victory. Today’s historic ruling by the Supreme Court means that workers who identify as LGBTQ can’t be fired on the basis of how they identify or who they love,” he said in a statement. “Everybody deserves to build a family, work, and live free from discrimination. The fight for dignity and equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people is not over.”
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Although the ruling is an important breakthrough for equality, Parker, who served as Houston’s first openly gay mayor from 2010 to 2016, noted that the decision is specifically tied to employment, and that it still remains legal for LGBTQ people to be discriminated against in restaurants, hospitals and other public accommodations. “It is time for the U.S. Congress to pass the Equality Act and finally end legalized discrimination against LGBTQ people in America, and for states to pass non-discrimination laws that provide accessible avenues for legal recourse,” she said, adding that the best way to secure these protections is to ensure that LGBTQ elected officials are in the halls of power to influence the debate and “change hearts and minds.”
“Today’s ruling is the success of many, many years of activism and people being out,” said María R. Salazar, president of Orgullo de San Antonio LULAC Council. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
Amid the current protests against systemic racism and the call for police reform, both Parker and Hinojosa firmly believe there is much work to be done in the fight for equal rights.
“While the ruling is an important moment in our movement for equality, we cannot fully celebrate as we continue to protest the racism and police brutality that Black people, including Black LGBTQ people, face every day in America,” said Parker, whose oldest son is African American. “The ruling is a step toward justice, but it is a reminder of the discrimination people of color, and especially Black people, continue to face despite legal protections under Title VII.”
“On a positive spin, it’s a watershed moment,” said County Court-at-Law No. 13 Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez during a phone interview. She added that this decision is one of many moments that are reflecting the “cry for equality” that is being spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement. “All these moments are happening right now - and it’s Pride Month,” she said, pointing out that the joyful observance is “not [just] glitter and dancing and good times. It’s just like Marsha [P. Washington] said: ‘There can be no pride for some of us if there’s no liberty and equality for everyone.’”
Speedlin Gonzalez, who was the first openly gay judge to be elected in Bexar County, sees the court decision as slow but steady progress. “I truly believe that marriage equality opened the door, but then it kind of got stuck,” she said of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision of 2015, which ruled that states could not ban same-sex marriage. “Now, we put another wedge in there. It’s not fully open, by any means, but it’s progress. And if we can’t have perfection, we’ll take progress.”
Monday’s ruling will have a much bigger impact on the everyday lives of LGBTQ Americans because the 2015 ruling was only relevant to gay and lesbians who wanted to marry, whereas almost every LGBTQ person will have to work during the course of their life.
“I’m ecstatic,” said María R. Salazar, president of Orgullo de San Antonio LULAC Council. Salazar, who is an attorney by trade, also believes that the fight against anti-gay bias must continue as the court ruling only speaks to employment protections. “It has nothing to do with your right to seek health care,” she said. “And this has nothing to do with housing [rights].”
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The right to vote and serve in the military, issues that directly affect transgender people, are just two examples of gaps in the ruling.
“The LGBT movement has had to fight for every civil right and we’ve had to shoestring all of these different battles to be recognized as full individuals,” she explained. “For example, the marriage equality act of 2015 just spoke to marriage, so that means you could get married on a Sunday, but you could have been fired in Texas for being LGBT because [the decision] had nothing to do with jobs.”
Salazar said that this ruling will join many milestones in LGBTQ history that have taken place during the month of June, the Stonewall riots of 1969 being the most notable example. Although Pride will be celebrated in very different ways this year because of Covid-19 concerns, many feel that the SCOTUS ruling will make 2020 memorable in a good, lasting way.
“We can enjoy these successes, but we just have to remember to be vigilant [and remember] that the conservatives are going to try to chip away at all these gains…just like what they’re trying to do with Roe v. Wade,” Salazar said.
“Today’s ruling is the success of many, many years of activism and people being out,” she said. “When I stop and think about it, I’m moved to tears.”
Jade Esteban Estrada is a political columnist at the San Antonio Sentinel. He can be reached at jade@sasentinel.com.