Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
Ever since the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision that legalized same sex marriage, lawsuits based on gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination have proliferated throughout the US. For example, in 2017 the Supreme Court decided not to hear a case on transgender rights, after it had initially granted certiorari and was planning to hear the case, once the Trump Administration rescinded a directive instituted by Obama.
In 2018, the Supreme Court heard Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which concerns whether owners of businesses could refuse to provide certain services based on their First Amendment rights of free speech and free exercise of religion. Many commentators expected the court to provide some guidance on same-sex discrimination in the case (because sexual orientation is a protected class in Colorado, which was the state where the case originated), but the Court issued a narrow ruling. The Supreme Court held that Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission’s ruling against the baker, Jack Phillips, had been infected by religious animus (as evidenced by inappropriate comments by the Commission). The Commission did not give neutral and respectful consideration of the factors in the case. Eventually, the Supreme Court will likely take a case on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination to resolve the issues left by the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, but they have yet to do so.
You can read the rest of this article in my guest post on the Ascentis Blog.
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