• GAYRVA.COM
  • ABOUT
  • Mobile Site

GayRVA

  • News & Views
    • Headlines
    • History
    • Op/Ed
  • Arts & Events
    • Calendar
    • Photos
    • Nightlife
    • Submit an Event
  • Lifestyle
    • Food & Drink
    • Dating & Relationships
    • Health & Fitness
    • Style
  • Guide
    • Attractions
    • Bars & Clubs
    • Faith
    • Health & Beauty
    • Hotels
    • Legal Resources
    • Non-Profit, Volunteer & Activism
    • Real Estate
    • Recreation
    • Restaurants
    • Shopping
    • Support & Social Groups
    • Theaters
    • Travel
  • Calendar
  • Advertise
  • Bars & Clubs
  • Business Directory
  • Dating
  • Nightlife
  • Photos
  • Visit Richmond
  • Home
  • >
  • Governors Urge Supreme Court To Rule Against Transgender Employment Protection
  • You are not logged in.
  • LOGIN
  • Arts & Events

    Real Life Superhero Don...

    Don-Cheadle-SNL
  • Lifestyle

    Love Actually Won RVA...

    headshot
  • News & Views

    VCU Workgroup Issues Report...

    50089390_10156107044146239_418212188361064448_n
  • News & Views

    Side By Side Launches...

    46885833_2524775810896019_8941040149744058368_n
  • Arts & Events

    Muralist Emily Herr Puts...

    19554799_1315404795194820_7231491951325560953_n
  • News & Views

    University of Richmond Launches...

    IMG_5312
  • News & Views

    Diversity Richmond’s Third Annual...

    blackboldawards
  • News & Views

    Bipartisan Groups In Both...

    Official Portrait
  • News & Views

    Former Chesterfield County Schoolteacher...

    FullSizeRender-3
  • News & Views

    Trump Uses National Prayer...

    trump-national-prayer-breakfast-f-4

Featured

    • Headlines
    • History
    • Op/Ed

Governors Urge Supreme Court To Rule Against Transgender Employment Protection

The governors of Maine, Mississippi, and Kentucky all joined together in a brief arguing that the Civil Rights Act does not, and should not, protect transgender employees.
Marilyn Drew Necci
Marilyn Drew Necci
September 10, 2018
    • Tweet

    Read More: 6th US Circuit Court Of Appeals, Aimee Stephens, Alliance Defending Freedom, Matt Bevin, Paul LePage, Phil Bryant, RG & GR Funeral Home, US supreme Court

    governors

    Three state governors — Phil Bryant of Mississippi, Matt Bevin of Kentucky, and Paul LePage of Maine — along with 13 state attorneys general have filed a legal brief with the Supreme Court, petitioning them to rule against protections against employment discrimination for trans people. The brief relates to a case that the anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom have asked the Supreme Court to hear, which concerns Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

    Specifically, the case is against RG & GR Funeral Home in Michigan. In 2014, RG & GR Harris terminated a funeral director in their employ after learning that she would be transitioning from male to female. The reason given, according to the terminated employee, Aimee Stephens, was that “the public would (not) be accepting of (her) transition.” Stephens filed a sex-discrimination claim as a result of the firing, and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against RG & GR Harris.

    Since then, the case has been rising through the courts. An initial district court ruling against Stephens and the EEOC was overturned on appeal by the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The 6th Circuit Court ruling stated that “discrimination against employees, either because of their failure to conform to sex stereotypes or their transgender and transitioning status, is illegal under Title VII.”

    This is the point that the governors and attorneys general have taken issue with. In the brief they have filed with the Supreme Court, they argue that “‘sex’ under the plain terms of Title VII does not mean anything other than biological status.” At the time of the Civil Rights Act’s passage, they state, “the understanding of the word ‘sex’ did not include the expansion of that word to include ‘gender identity.’”

    “The term ‘gender identity’ does not appear in the text of Title VII or in the regulations accompanying Title VII,” the brief continues. “In fact, ‘gender identity’ is a wholly different concept from ‘sex,’ and not a subset or reasonable interpretation of the term ‘sex’ in Title VII.”

    The 6th Circuit Court specifically addressed this point within their ruling, however, pointing to a precedent established within a 1989 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins. Within that ruling, the Supreme Court found that “gender must be irrelevant to employment decisions.” “Gender (or sex) is not being treated as “irrelevant to employment decisions” if an employee’s attempt or desire to change his or her sex leads to an adverse employment decision,” the 6th Circuit Court wrote in their ruling.

    Whether the Supreme Court will hear this case, and how they will rule if they do, could have a longterm effect on transgender employment opportunities for years to come. Current concerns over the nomination of Brett Kanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy definitely point toward a negative outcome for LGBTQ rights if he is confirmed. And without federal protections, the ability of trans people to live free of employment discrimination comes down to the laws within their state. Here in Virginia, only state employees are protected from such discrimination.

    So let’s all cross our fingers on this one.

    Top image: Bryant, Photo By U.S. Department of Energy from United States/via Wikimedia; Bevin, Photo By usbotschaftberlin/via Wikimedia; LePage, Photo By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0/via Wikimedia

      • Tweet
      rao-booker-4

      Related Stories

      Trump’s Nominee to Replace Kavanaugh on DC Circuit Refuses to Say if She Thinks Gay Relationships Are a Sin

      President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Brett Kavanaugh, now a U.S. Supreme Court justice, on the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is refusing to say if she thinks same-sex relationships are a sin. Neomi Rao, whose past writings have drawn the ire and disgust of top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been facing [...]

      February 6, 2019
      • Kim Davis Should Pay $222,000 in Couples’ Legal Fees Says Governor Citing ‘Conduct That Violates Civil Rights’, January 31, 2019
      • Trump Meets With Wife of Supreme Court Justice About Transgender Troops – Who He Will Ask SCOTUS to Ban, January 28, 2019
      • Shocking ‘No Gays Allowed’ Billboard Delivers Pro-LGBTQ Message, December 3, 2018
      • Prev Watch: Kavanaugh Won’t Even Say If He Personally Believes LGBT People Shouldn’t Be Fired for Being LGBT
      • Next The Amazon Trail: There Is No Place Like Home
      • Topics
      • Back to top
      ACLU Babe's of Carytown Bob Marshall Carytown Discrimination Diversity Richmond DOMA Equality Virginia Fan Free Clinic Featured Fourth Friday GA 2016 gallery Gay Community Center of Richmond GCCR General Assembly Godfrey's History HRC Human Rights Campaign Lesbian LGBT LGBTQ Marriage Equality movie reviews Movies music Nations North Carolina Photos religious freedom Richmond Richmond Triangle Players ROSMY RVA theatre Same-Sex Marriage Transgender transgender bathroom use Trump administration tv jerry University of Richmond VA Pride VCU video Virginia Pride

      More News

      • 50089390_10156107044146239_418212188361064448_n VCU Workgroup Issues Report On Making Campus Library More Inclusive For Trans & Non-Binary Students
      • 46885833_2524775810896019_8941040149744058368_n Side By Side Launches Host Home Program To Combat Youth Homelessness
      • IMG_5312 University of Richmond Launches Trans-Inclusive Health Care Program
      • Recent Posts

        • Real Life Superhero Don Cheadle Continues to Improve the World, One T-Shirt at a Time
        • Love Actually Won RVA Offers Support and Community To Survivors of Conversion Therapy
        • VCU Workgroup Issues Report On Making Campus Library More Inclusive For Trans & Non-Binary Students
        • Side By Side Launches Host Home Program To Combat Youth Homelessness
        • Muralist Emily Herr Puts Positive Spin On Female Masculinity With Virago Spirits Mural
      • Friend Activity

      our partners

      QUICK LINKS

      About

      • About GayRVA
      • Advertise
      • Contact Us
      • Privacy Policy

      Arts & Events

      • Photos
      • Nightlife
      • Calendar
      • Archive

      Connect

      • YouTube
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • E-Newsletter

      Guides

      • Travel
      • Resources
      • Real Estate
      • Business Directory

      Lifestyle

      • Style
      • Health & Fitness
      • Food & Drink
      • Dating & Relationships

      Partner Links

      • RMCVB
      • Gungho Guides
      • GCCR

      Copyright (c) 2019 GayRVA.com | Website Developed By CO+LAB

      GayRVAout. spoken.

      Continue to GayRVA (X)