Divided Supreme Court Rules On Sex Discrimination Protection For LGBT Workers
In a landmark ruling, a divided Supreme Court ruled on June 15, 2020 that the 1964 Civil Rights Act barring sex discrimination in the workplace also protects LGBTQ employees from being fired because of their sexual orientation. The case, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia can be accessed by clicking here. The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key protection of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex also encompasses discrimination against LGBT workers.
The decision was written by Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch (who was appointed to the Court by President Trump). Chief Justice John Roberts also joined the court’s four liberal justices composing the majority. Dissenting were Associate Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh.
A recent article in Psychology & Sexuality, studied the effects that having an LGT (lesbian, gay, transexual) parent has on adult children. Because most research to date has centered on younger children and their well-being at the time, the authors of the article wanted to look at how these children feel now that they are adults and have families of their own. Entitled, “‘Not a big deal’? exploring the accounts of adult children of lesbian, gay and trans parents,” authors Victoria Clarke and Eleni Demetriou surveyed 14 adults. Thirteen of the subjects were born to a heterosexual couple where one partner was later outed as gay, lesbian or trans.