America’s leading businesses, members of Congress, women’s organizations, civil rights groups, conservatives, people of faith, public health associations, bar associations, and more affirm LGBTQ workplace protections in key cases
WASHINGTON—Today more than 2,000 organizations and individuals are filing 49 friend-of-the-court briefs in three LGBTQ nondiscrimination cases arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex, prohibits LGBTQ discrimination.
A comprehensive list of all the briefs will be hosted on the Supreme Court webpages for the cases:
- Gerald Lynn Bostock v. Clayton County, GA
- R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, et al.
- Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda
“As the Supreme Court prepares to hear the most significant cases on LGBTQ equality since our marriage equality victory, these briefs from more than 2,000 diverse organizations and signers represent the overwhelming cross-section of Americans who deeply support LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections,” said Masen Davis, CEO of Freedom for All Americans. “Elected officials, people of faith, conservatives, and experts from all walks of life agree that no one who is well-qualified, talented, and hardworking should face discrimination on the job. The Supreme Court has the opportunity for the first time to say definitively that our nation’s longstanding civil rights laws — and our values of freedom and fairness — include LGBTQ people.”
The cases before the Supreme Court, which will be heard on October 8, concern three plaintiffs: Gerald Lynn Bostock, who was fired from his job as a child welfare services coordinator in Georgia because he is gay; Aimee Stephens, who was let go from her job at a funeral home in Michigan after she shared with her employer that she is a transgender woman; and Don Zarda, who was fired from his job in New York as a skydiving instructor for being gay.
Signers of the briefs include:
- More than 200 major businesses collectively generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, representing hundreds of thousands of employees, and spanning the country and a wide variety of industries
- More than 90 mayors, cities and counties ranging from Atlanta, Dallas, Iowa City, and Pittsburgh, to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York representing tens of millions of local constituents
- More than 35 Republican elected officials, former members of Congress, political advisers, business leaders, lawyers and members of past Republican Presidential administrations stating that conservative principles make it clear that federal law bans LGBTQ discrimination
- More than 40 major civil rights organizations, including the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Japanese American Citizens League, Latino Justice PRLDEF, the League of Women Voters, the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the National Urban League
- 30 prominent women CEOs discussing how LGBTQ discrimination is connected to gender stereotyping and sexism, including Shonda Rhimes (creator, head writer and executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice, and the political thriller series Scandal); and Tela Mathias, the daughter of Ann Hopkins of the historic Price-Waterhouse v. Hopkins, which established for the first time that gender stereotyping constitutes sex discrimination
- More than 750 clergy, religious leaders and religious organizations
- More than 150 current members of Congress
- Chambers of commerce and small business associations including Main Street Alliance and the American Independent Business Alliance
- The American Bar Association; the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians and 15 other health care associations; the American Psychological Association; the AARP; the National Education Association, and National School Boards Association.
Freedom for All Americans worked hand-in-hand with the American Civil Liberties Union (counsel in two of the cases) and other LGBTQ legal partners to devise an amicus strategy and recruit signers, including mayors and municipalities, businesses, conservatives, and people of faith. A decision in the cases is expected by June 2020.
According to an April 2019 poll by Quinnipiac University. 92 percent of Americans think that firing people or denying them jobs or promotions because they are LGBTQ is wrong.
Freedom for All Americans is the bipartisan campaign to secure full nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people nationwide. Our work brings together Republicans and Democrats, businesses large and small, people of faith, and allies from all walks of life to make the case for comprehensive nondiscrimination protections that ensure everyone is treated fairly and equally.
[From a News Release]
