The Supreme Court May Erode Decades of Wins for LGBT Worker Rights
In a trio of cases this coming term, the justices will hear arguments on whether it’s legal for bosses to discriminate against LGBT employees.
Illustration: Braulio Amado for Bloomberg Businessweek
For two decades, most of the LGBT movement’s highest-profile victories have come at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2003 the justices issued a ruling legalizing gay sex that dissenting conservative Justice Antonin Scalia warned would set the stage for nationwide legalized gay marriage. Within 12 years, his prediction was realized. The court made marriage equality the law of the land—reflecting, and also accelerating, a sea change in straight Americans’ views and treatment of their LGBTQ family members and neighbors.
But next year the high court could deal LGBTQ people a painful blow: wiping out lower-court rulings that shield them from getting fired for who they are.