Gill Foundation Grantees React to Supreme Court Ruling on Title VII

July 9, 2020

On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBT people from employment discrimination. This is a huge step forward for advancing equality for LGBT Americans.

In a USA Today article, a few Gill Foundation grantees reflected on what this victory means:

“[The ruling] is a really big deal because before this, there certainly were employers who believed that they could just end the employment of somebody for being gay or transgender,” said Jennifer Levi, director of the Transgender Rights Project at the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “So this is really an important clarification of the scope of federal law.”

“Today’s decisions make clear that if an employee’s sexual orientation or gender identity was the reason – or one reason – for the termination, then the firing was illegal,” said Christy Mallory, a researcher at the Williams Institute. “This is true even if the employer also had other reasons for firing the employee.”

“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination only by employers with 15 or more employees. That is one reason why state nondiscrimination laws are important, as many state nondiscrimination laws cover smaller employers as well,” said Angela Dallara of Freedom For All Americans. “So, a business with fewer than 15 employees in a state such as Texas is still able to fire somebody on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, unless there is a city or county ordinance prohibiting such discrimination.”

To read the full article, visit: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2020/06/15/supreme-court-ruling-what-does-mean-lgbt-rights-and-where/3194423001/