LGBTQ Rights ARE Human Rights.
A monumental Supreme Court decision was recently handed down that encompassed the rights of the LGBTQ community, Title VII and business owners. The 6-3 decision was written by a Trump appointee and staunch conservative — who, in an unprecedented decision, held that the LGBTQ community is afforded the same protections under Title VII as heterosexual individuals.
“An individual’s homosexuality or transgender status is not relevant to employment decisions. That’s because it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.”
–Justice Neil Gorsuch
The decision held that employers cannot fire or terminate employees based solely on sexual orientation or sexual preference — a huge win for the LGBTQ community.
“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.”
However, this decision is not widely echoed throughout the United States. In January 2020, the Tennessee House approved a bill that allows tax-payer funded adoption agencies to select prospective parents based on sexual preference and/or orientation and religious affiliation. The Bill was signed into law on January 24, 2020, by Governor Bill Lee. Tennessee joined a plethora of other states that allow this type of sexual based discrimination; while only five states actively prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in child welfare situations.
But that’s not all. Only 8 states have passed legislation to ban the use of the gay/trans panic defense in criminal cases. Yes, it really is as bad as it sounds. The gay/trans panic defense is used as a tactic to play on inherent prejudice and bias, while arguing that someone’s sexual orientation or preference caused the attacker to act in a violent manner. The defense is used not only to explain why the attacker behaved, but also to excuse that violent behavior.
Essentially, the defense is used as an excuse for murdering gay/trans people.
In 2015, James Miller murdered his neighbor, a younger gay man, for making a pass at him. The killing was never in dispute — it was the justification for that killing that shocked the nation. Miller argued that he killed Daniel Spencer after becoming afraid for his life when Spencer made a sexual pass at him. Miller never spent a day in jail.
While the laws are changing, it’s a slow process. The American Bar Association is actively working to limit the use of the gay/trans panic defense by calling on members of the legal and supporting communities to act.
Change starts locally. Be an advocate; speak out against the gay/trans panic defense and call on your representatives to act. We have a long way to go to reach equality under the law, but it is our responsibility to act in any way that we can.
