Does a US employer have the right to sack a worker because they are gay or transgender? That question, which has caused deep divisions within US society, will go before the Supreme Court on Tuesday at a time when the political scene has already reached fever pitch over efforts to impeach President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration has effectively thrown in its lot with the employers, backing a narrow interpretation of a 1964 civil rights law banning discrimination "on the basis of sex."
"We're talking about the ability to earn a living, the ability to support our families, the ability to secure a safe place to live. I mean, this goes to the very heart of what it is to live and work in this country."
Only 22 states forbid discrimination against sexual minorities in the workplace. Tabacco Mar said it was up to the Supreme Court to stop the LGBTQ community from being "relegated to second class status."
Distraught, Stephens decided to fight. "It was time that somebody stood up and said enough is enough," she said. "Every human being deserves the same rights. That's all we are asking for."
Catholic bishops wrote an amicus brief to the court warning that "ordinary religious believers, whose views about marriage and human sexuality do not conform to those of the present culture, will be silenced or punished for 'unwelcome' speech on these subjects, which now will be regarded as a form of harassment."
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