We Are Still Winning

Even in today’s climate we are still winning in court cases, this time in state court in the unlikely state of Missouri.

Historic Missouri Ruling Adds LGBT Protections To Sex Discrimination LawA landmark case “simply recognizes the manifold ways sex discrimination manifests itself,” an appeals court ruled.NewNextNow
By Dan Avery
October 26, 2017

A Missouri Court of Appeals ruled this week that discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation is prohibited under state laws barring sex discrimination.

“If the employer mistreats a male employee because the employer deems the employee insufficiently masculine, it is immaterial whether the male employee is gay or straight,” wrote Judge Anthony in Tuesday’s decision. “The prohibition against sex discrimination extends to all employees, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.”
[…]
The ruling stemmed from a 2014 case in which Harold Lampley, a gay man, claimed he was fired from the Missouri Department of Social Services because he didn’t meet his bosses’ expectation of how a man should behave. (A female coworker also sued, claiming she was retaliated against because she associated with Lampley.)
[…]
The Missouri Commission on Human Rights initially claimed it didn’t have jurisdiction because the discrimination was based on Lampley’s sexual orientation, rather than his sex. But the appeals court disagreed, maintaining the case “simply recognizes the manifold ways sex discrimination manifests itself.”

This is BIG! Because it all stems from a Supreme Court ruling back in the Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, from 1989 where the court ruled that sex discrimination also includes sex stereotyping. The idea that sex also includes gender identity and sexual orientation is starting to gain traction in the courts. We have won many cases already but now lesbians and gays are starting to win in court.

Clashes over Title VII protection of sexual orientation make way toward Supreme Court
Washington Times
By Alex Swoyer
August 13, 2017

When the Trump Justice Department last month asserted that civil rights laws don’t protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation, it clashed with another part of the administration — the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — which previously claimed that the laws did apply.

Federal appeals judges are also at odds. A Chicago-based court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does cover sexual orientation, while an Atlanta-based court ruled that it was never envisioned as a protected class under the law.

The disagreements make it much more likely that the case will end up at the highest levels.

“I would think it’s a dead certainty to make it to the Supreme Court,” said Richard Epstein, a law professor at New York University. “Conflicts of interest generally get to the Supreme Court if they’re big.”

One thing to remember is that the Republicans an d Trump is packing the courts with ultra conservative judges because they held up president Obama’s court nominees and now they are filling those opennings.