Supreme Court LGBTQ+ Decision will Impact Education (June 22, 2020)

On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 decision, that federal law prohibits employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, a ruling that will have a direct impact on education. The majority opinion held that an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and now avers that sexual orientation or gender identity are concepts so closely related to “sex”—meaning gender—that a prohibition of sex discrimination includes them.

This ruling will likely have other impacts on education down the road. LGBT issues beyond employment discrimination have been contentious in schools for years. While the decision today is limited to employment discrimination on the basis of sex, it opens the door to other areas, such as  participation in school sports and bathroom use.  

To read more, click here.