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Supreme Court rules in favor of civil rights law protecting gay and lesbian workers



Photo by Brianna Swank

The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-3 decision that existing anti-discrimination laws that prevent job discrimination based on sexual orientation. The now federal law also extends protection to transgender workers.

In the majority opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, states that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sex also protects gay and lesbian workers from discrimination.

This decision is huge because the majority of the Supreme Court is conservative and even more so because some of those judges were appointed by President Trump - including Gorsuch. This is also coming from the fact that the Trump administration argued the law did not cover sexual orientation.

What I'm more interested in that one of the main arguments to rule in favor of allowing employers to not hire workers based on their sexual orientation is that it infringed on religious rights. Essentially it was the belief by some that forcing Christian business owners to hire people like gay or lesbians was illegal because it hinders their ability to practice their faith.

Of course, I personally believe that the bible is open to interpretation and while people are allowed to have their opinions, I do not believe the court allowing owners to do this would have been constitutional. We have a clear separation of church and state law and by ruling in favor of religious business owners clearly establishes Christianity as a national religion.

I'd also like to point out a passage in the bible:
Matthew 8:5-13 - A centurion soldier asks Jesus to heal his "pais," who has been stuck at home paralyzed and suffering. Jesus says to him "Shall I come and heal him?"

Pais is the greek word commonly used for younger lovers in a same-sex relationship. So instead of turning this man away because it was against his religion, he went to heal him.

Not only does our government prevent the establishment of one religion over the other, the bible also has passages that talk about gay partners.

Think about that today.

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