Nadler & Cohen Statement on SCOTUS Ruling Protecting LGBTQ Workers from Discrimination

Statement

In response to the Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Chair Steve Cohen (D-TN) released the following statement:

"Today's decision will go down in history as a landmark decision for equality and civil rights in this country. The Supreme Court today affirmed that no one should be discriminated against because of who they are or who they love. Much of the history of the United States has been expanding the definition of who is understood to be included when the Declaration of Independence says, 'all men are created equal.' Today's decision continues that march towards justice for all individuals in our great nation.

"But the forces against equality are still strong, and this Supreme Court decision is just one step on the path to LGBTQ equality. We urge the Trump Administration to immediately update relevant federal regulations in light of this ruling to make clear that our nation's laws prohibiting sex discrimination extend to prohibit discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Notably, the Administration needs to immediately reverse HHS' efforts to gut the Section 1557 rules against discrimination in healthcare, the Department of Education's efforts to undermine protections for trans students, and all its other efforts to undermine protections for the LGBTQ community.

"The Senate must also take action - there are key areas of civil rights laws that currently do not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, and therefore do not prohibit discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Last year, the Judiciary Committee and House of Representatives passed the Equality Act to add sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity, as a protected characteristic in areas of the law where it was not already included and to clarify that where sex discrimination is already prohibited that includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. We urge Senate Majority Leader McConnell to immediately bring up this bipartisan legislation for a vote on the Senate floor to both codify today's Supreme Court decision and to ensure LGBTQ people and women have the same protections as other historically disadvantaged groups in public spaces and services and federally funded programs."

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