Don Zarda and sister Melissa Zarda
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/07/gay-rights-employment-discrimination-battle-heads-supreme-court/3822694002/
Gay rights have come a long way, but LGBTQ members still face discrimination today, especially in the workforce. Don Zarda was a skydiving instructor in New York until his sexual orientation was discovered in which he was then fired. In 2014, after struggling with unemployment, Don died in a sky diving accident. Although deceased, Don's sister Melissa continues to fight for protection against discrimination in the workplace. With 2 other LGBTQ related cases, Melissa hopes to persuade the Supreme Court that the 1964 Civil Rights Act includes protection against discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity; Zarda claims that these terms fall under the word "sex" included in the law.
I think that the argument expanding on the word "sex" in the Civil Rights Act will be very difficult for the plaintiffs to uphold in the Supreme Court. Recently brought up during the poll/survey presentations, it was made clear that LGBTQ issues like which restrooms those identifying as transgender may use are popular and controversial topics. The Trump administration has already announced that they believe that ignoring one's sex can interfere with policies within the workplace, and seeing as Kavanaugh was urgently nominated by Trump last year, I fear that Kavanaugh may try to enforce such policies through the court. Nevertheless, ruling in favor of Zarda and the other LGBTQ cases would significantly improve the environment for LGBTQ members in the workplace.
What likelihood does the various LGBTQ cases will gain a verdict in their favor? Why?
How could Kavanaugh affect the Supreme Court's verdict?
3 comments:
Unfortunately, I don’t think these LGBTQ cases will change anything. I think a great factor of this is how many people are still against the idea of people being different than “normal”. A lot of people are closed minded about new/different things. The fact that some people don’t want LGBTQ people being teachers or clerks or having any other jobs is crazy. I do understand that everyone has different opinions and perspectives on things but sometimes it doesn’t make much sense because LGBTQ people aren’t harmful or dangerous in any way. There is no harm in having someone in the LGBTQ community being employed. I hope as our generation gets older, we spread the notion that being different (not just in the LGBTQ stance) is perfectly fine and that those people aren’t harmful.
I agree with Samantha. I think that even though these LGBTQ cases are bringing more attention to the lack of LGBTQ rights in our society, they will have little impact as many people still believe that people who identify as anything other than straight are "different." The negative attitudes regarding the LGBTQ community must change in order for there to be more acceptance in society. Because of these attitudes, as well as those conveyed by the Trump Administration, I think it will be very difficult to gain support for "sex" to include sexual orientation. However, I hope as younger generations begin to make up more of society, there will be increased support for LGBTQ rights and more protections under the law.
While I understand Ava and Sam's point of view, I believe that just the attention and acknowledgement of the LGBTQ community will help lead to positive changes in the public's mindsets. I don't think that acceptance of LGBTQ members will happen anytime soon, because like Ava and Sam said, many people still disapprove of any non-heterosexual individuals. However, the acceptance of homosexual couples has come a long way from the Stonewall riots to Obergefell v. Hodges which legalized gay marriage. Such acceptance only could occur due to the slow progression of the public's opinion on the subject; this gives me hope that issues involving transgender members of society may experience the same changes over time.
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