Appeals Court Rules That Civil Rights Act Protects LGBTQ People

Going against years of contrary rulings, the 7th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has ruled that federal civil rights law protects lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees from discrimination in the workplace.” This can be considered a major victory in the ongoing battle for LGBT rights. The court ruling was based on an 8-3 decision.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars job discrimination based on sex, but has mostly been read as not offering that protection to people based on their sexual orientation.

“For many years, the courts of appeals in this country understood the prohibition against sex discrimination to exclude discrimination on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation,” Chief Judge Diane Wood wrote for the majority. “We conclude today that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination.”

The three dissenting judges said that the majority had used its power to change the civil rights law, which does not explicitly protect people on the basis of sexual orientation.

“Today the court jettisons the prevailing interpretation and installs the polar opposite,” Judge Diane Sykes wrote in the dissent.

While anti-LGBT discrimination has been written into law in some states and municipalities, the opposite is also true in other parts of the country. The Trump administration recently took steps to undo Obama-era laws that prevented such discrimination by employers with federal contracts.

Based on 20 years of United States Supreme Court rulings, including the 2015 decision that same-sex couples have the right to marry, the court’s decision will no doubt have a significant impact, especially in a political climate where many LGBT people are afraid of seeing progress over the last decade eroded by a majority Republican federal government.

There will no doubt be a backlash against the ruling as well, and it is likely that it will be taken to the United States Supreme Court, though whether that body will hear it remains to be seen. So far, SCOTUS has not made a ruling on whether or not the Civil Rights Act protects LGBT people, though such a ruling could be on the table in the next few years.

In the meantime, the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals decision gives extra precedent to discrimination cases across the country, and will likely spur new legal action by activists and legislators.