The National Association of Black and White Men Together (NABWMT) applauds two U.S. Supreme Court decisions today that (1) guaranteed protections for LGBTQ+ persons against discrimination in the workplace and (2) denied the Trump Administration’s attempt to force local and state governments to comply with federal immigration policies by overturning California’s state “sanctuary” law which bars state and local enforcement from cooperating with enforcement of those policies.
In the case of Bostock v. Clayton County, the Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (which bars discrimination in employment based on sex) extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Justice’s Gorsuch’s ground-breaking ruling for the court stated that: “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”
NABWMT celebrates the decision with the millions of gays, lesbians, and transgender people who will wake up today in 26 states knowing that their rights to employment have been affirmed by the highest court in the land.
NABWMT also celebrates the Court’s decision to deny the Trump’s Administration’s effort to force local enforcement of misguided and reprehensible federal immigration policy. In a separate ruling, the Court declined to review–and therefore left in force–a Ninth Circuit ruling that upheld a California statute that denied state and local cooperation to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
As a gay multiracial, multicultural organization committed to fighting racism, and promoting social justice for 40 years, we affirm that these rulings are a major win for marginalized communities, particularly communities of color, and keep our nation safer, healthier, and more equal.
At the same time, we recognize that much the struggle for civil rights in this country is a marathon, not a sprint. The demonstrations convulsing the nation at this time are a stark reminder that communities of color are still being policed to death, and many of us have been on the front lines of those demonstrations. Only a change in our national culture of how state force is used under the rubric of “policing”–who is “policed” and on whose behalf–will we stop the killing and see some semblance of “equal” rights under the law.
Our legislative agenda also remains unfinished. The other branch of Title VII–public accommodations–is not addressed by today’s ruling but there is a bill in the House of Representatives (the “Equality Act”) would make clear that LGBTQ+ persons are entitled to protection in public accommodations as well as employment.
Today we celebrate two small victories and re-commit ourselves to the struggle for full equality for LGBTQ+ persons and persons of color. None of us is free until all of us are free.
Supreme Court bans Discrimination
