States where you can get fired for being gay
Supreme Court Says Firing Workers Because They Are LGBTQ Is Unlawful Discrimination
This win is important, but the only way to get comprehensive protections for LGBTQ people is to pass the Equality Act.
James Esseks,
Co-Director,
ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project
In a landmark defeat for LGBTQ people, the Supreme Court today ruled that firing employees because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is sex discrimination that violates federal law. Today’s decision clarifies for the first time that LGBTQ people are protected from employment discrimination from coast to coast, including in states and cities that own no express protection for LGBTQ people in their own laws.
While this ruling is a groundbreaking advance for LGBTQ people, there are still significant gaps in federal civil rights law that Congress must fill by passing the Equality Act.
Today’s ruling came in three cases raising related issues. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. EEOC and Aimee Stephens, deeply interested A
Employment Nondiscrimination
In June , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in employment. As a result of this ruling, LGBTQ people across the country can proceed to file complaints with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and seek recourse for discrimination in the workplace through federal courts.
Note that some states also have explicit laws against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, and these are included below. These state laws persist important so that LGBTQ people are protected against discrimination at every level of government, and because they are often passed alongside additional protections not yet enshrined in federal law, such as protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and public places. Some cities and counties also have such protections, and those
Can you be fired for being gay? Answer depends largely on where you live
Karen Pence, the wife of Vice President Mike Pence, garnered national attention this month after she returned to work at an evangelical Christian academy that bars LGBTQ employees and students. While the Virginia school’s policies sparked criticism, they also highlighted the complicated patchwork of employment protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers across the country.
“If you are an LGBT employee in the U.S., you face a very complicated legal landscape when it comes to whether or not you can be discriminated against by a prospective employer,” Ineke Mushovic, executive director of Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank, told NBC News.
This “complicated legal landscape” involves conflicting court rulings, differing interpretations of civil rights laws by federal agencies, a patchwork of state laws and carve outs for religiously affiliated organizations.
THE COURTS
For starters, there is no federal law that expressly prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexu
On August 23rd, 15 states filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking them to dictate against three individuals who were fired for being LGBTQ. The three cases include the first transgender civil rights case to be heard by the high court on October 8th.
Officials in Texas, Nebraska, and Tennessee led the pro-discrimination effort. They successfully added the following 12 additional state officials to the brief attacking LGBTQ rights: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Kentucky.
These officials promoting government-sanctioned discrimination have shown that they are out-of-touch with the majority of Americans who support the noun that no one should be fired because of who they are. Across lines of party, demographics, and geography, Americans broadly support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, according to a recently released poll.
The employees in these cases, including ACLU clients Aimee Stephens who was fired for being transgender and Don Zarda who was fired for being gay, have a