Monday June 15th will forever go down as a momentous day in the history of Civil Rights and justice!
The Supreme Court ruled in a surprising 6-3, sending powerful messages to the rest of the country regarding the normalization of LGBT+ rights as Civil Rights. The debate originates as far back as the 1950’s with the “Lavender Scare”, which initiated greater, “legalized” repression of gay and lesbian persons, including an executive order from President Eisenhower banning government employment of LGBT+ persons.
This case (Bostock v. Clayton Co, Georgia) involved work discrimination against Gerald Bostock after joining a gay softball team, discrimination faced by Donald Zarda who was fired following a comment about his orientation to a female patron, and finally laid to rest any questions surrounding the wrongful firing of Aimee Stephens (pictured above), who was imperishably fired after informing her employer she was Trans.
The Trump Administration and the DOJ advocated for the opposite ruling, claiming that the authors of the original provision did not have sexual orientation or trans-gendered individuals in mind when it was passed. However, the Court determined that despite orientation was not on the minds of Congress at the time, when “an employer fires a male employee for dating men, but not a female employee who dates men, that violates the law.”
Sadly, Aimee Stephens passed away May 12 and was not able to finally be given the justice she so deserved. However, this ruling coupled with the 2015 Court decision regarding Same-Sex Marriage, are major steps towards greater equity and justice for those within the LGBT+ spectrum after centuries of prejudice. There is still so much more to be done to right the wrongs of society towards these individuals, but for now, in this moment, we can rest easy knowing that those who identify within LGBT+ can marry those whom they love and not worry about being fired for that marriage.
#loveislove #equalrights #transrightsarehumanrights #transrights #gayrights #supremecourtdecision
