Høyesterett i Washington, vestfløyen Foto:Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/Scanpix

Lesbiske, homofile, bifile og transkjønnede vant en stor seier mandag da amerikansk høyesterett med 6 mot 3 stemmer, gikk inn for å gi dem samme beskyttelse på arbeidsmarkedet som alle andre.

Arbeidsgiver kan dermed ikke si opp folk utelukkende pga deres seksuelle legning. Høyesterett skulle ta stilling til tre saker der det var tilfelle:

The decision dealt with three cases. In one, Clayton County, Georgia employee Gerald Bostock was fired from his job as a child welfare advocate for conduct “unbecoming” a county employee soon after he joined a gay softball league. In another, New York skydiving instructor Donald Zarda was fired days after mentioning he was gay, and in a third, Michigan funeral home worker Aimee Stephens was fired after she told her employer that she would be identifying as a woman six years into her employment.

Dommen var ført i pennen av Neil Gorsuch, den første høyesterettsdommeren Trump utnevnte.

-Vi er et samfunn som byggerpå lover, begynte Gorsuchs begrunnelse. Har man sagt A må man si B. Et rettssamfunn kan ikke vilkårlig bestemme at en minoritet ikke har samme krav på beskyttelse som andre.

«We do not hesitate to recognize today a necessary consequence of that legislative choice: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.»

Mindretallet besto av Clarence Thomas og Samuel Alito som mente at Høyesterett har gått for langt og fungerer som lovgiver, ikke lovfortolker.

Brett Kavanaugh var enig i puntet om juridsk overskridelse, men hadde også sin egen oppfatning:

«Notwithstanding my concern about the Court’s transgression of the Constitution’s separation of powers, it is appropriate to acknowledge the important victory achieved today by gay and lesbian Americans,» Kavanaugh wrote. «Millions of gay and lesbian Americans have worked hard for many decades to achieve equal treatment in fact and in law. They have exhibited extraordinary vision, tenacity, and grit—battling often steep odds in the legislative and judicial arenas, not to mention in their daily lives. They have advanced powerful policy arguments and can take pride in today’s result.»

Supreme Court rules gay workers protected from job discrimination, in big win for LGBT rights

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