During LGBTQ Pride Month, we held an important discussion on the significance and implications of the landmark 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ employees from discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
We were joined by special guest, James Esseks, Director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project as a follow up to his talk at DWT's LGBTQ event in NYC last November. James was counsel in one of the three LGBTQ cases ruled on by the Supreme Court last week and in other landmark LGBTQ cases: Obergefell v. Hodges, which won the freedom to marry nationwide; United States v. Windsor, striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act; Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, whether a Virginia school board can bar a boy from the common restrooms because he is transgender; and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, addressing whether a business open to the public can turn away LGBT customers based on its religious or artistic objections. James shared his views on the recent LGBTQ victory in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and implications moving forward as we seek to extend rights to LGBTQ individuals.
Speakers:
- James Esseks, ACLU
- John LeCrone, Davis Wright Tremaine
- Vicky Slade, Davis Wright Tremaine
- Chris Boccuzzo, Davis Wright Tremaine