It is a major victory for LGBT activists in the United States. The US Supreme Court on Monday (June 15th) granted an important victory to millions of gay and transgender workers by granting them the benefit of anti-discrimination mechanisms at work, despite opposition from the government of Donald Trump.

"Today we have to decide if an employer can fire someone just because they are gay or transgender, the answer is clear," the law "prohibits it," said the court in a majority judgment. six out of nine judges.

Since 1964 a federal law has prohibited discrimination "on the grounds of sex", but certain courts, as well as the administration of the Republican president, considered that it applied only to gender differences and not to sexual minorities.

#SCOTUS grants federal job protections to gay, lesbian, transgender workers.

- Scotus (@Scotus) June 15, 2020

The defenders of gay, lesbian and transgender employees, supported by many elected Democrats and several large companies including Apple, General Motors and Walt Disney, asked the Court to write black and white that they were protected by this device.

In 2015, the highest court in the United States extended the right to same-sex marriage, but defenders of sexual minorities feared that the two judges appointed by Donald Trump since his election would have made it more conservative.

Yet it was one of them, Neil Gorsuch, who drafted the majority decision, adding his voice to that of the four progressive judges and to the chief of the court John Roberts.

"It's a huge victory for equality"

The authors of the 1964 law "probably did not anticipate that their work would lead to this conclusion," he wrote. "But the limits of their imagination are not a reason to ignore the requirements of the law," continued this lawyer, very attached to the letter of texts.

As for Brett Kavanaugh, also chosen by Donald Trump for his conservative views, he opposed this decision, believing that it was up to Congress and not the justice system to change the law.

"Notwithstanding my concern about the transgression by the Court of the separation of powers, it is important to salute this important victory for American gays and lesbians", he however underlined. They "can be proud of this result."

>> See: Costa Rica, the first Central American country to legalize gay marriage

"This is a huge victory for equality," said James Esseks, one of the leaders of the powerful ACLU rights organization.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden also praised a "significant step forward". So far, gay people "could marry one day and be fired the next day," he said, vowing to continue "the fight for equality if elected on November 3.

"It was time for someone to get up and say enough is enough"

Concretely, the Court ruled in three separate cases.

Two involved gay workers: a parachute instructor, Donald Zarda, and a social worker, Gerald Bostock, who had taken legal action after being dismissed because of their sexual orientation. Illustrating the legal confusion which reigned until now, the courts had ruled in the first and wrong in the second.

For the first time in its history, the Court had also examined the file of a transgender person, Aimee Stephens.

After having worked as a man for six years in a funeral home in Detroit (north), she had announced to her employer that she intended to assume her identity as a woman. The latter then thanked her in the name of her Christian values ​​and "in the interest of the grieving families".

>> See: Stonewall riots: 50 years ago, the beginnings of LGBT + activism

Aimee Stephens had then embarked on a judicial crusade, ready to embody an invisible minority. "It was time for someone to get up and say enough is enough," she said before the October 8 hearing.

Suffering from severe renal failure, she died on May 12 at the age of 59 without knowing the Court's decision. "I am grateful for this victory, which honors Aimee's fight and ensures equal treatment between people regardless of their sexual orientation or identity," said widow Donna in a statement.

With AFP

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