Research: Upcoming gay rights supreme court cases
ASKWONDER
QUESTION
Upcoming Gay Rights Supreme Court Cases
INSIGHTS
In September 2017, Lambda Legal, an LGBT group, filed a petition to the
US Supreme Court to clarify that the provision of Title VII on the
workplace discrimination because of sex also applies to LGBTs.
In August 2017, Kenosha Unified School District filed a petition to the US
Supreme Court challenging the ruling of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeal on granting a transgender boy, Ash Whitaker, access to school
restrooms that conform to their gender identity.
Gavin Grimm, a transgender, sued his Gloucester County high school to
grant him access to the school restroom that conforms with his gender
identity.
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FINDINGS
We have provided a list of pending and upcoming Supreme Court cases that could have an
impact on the rights of the LGBT population in the US. The cases of Barronelle Stutzman
(7), Kenosha Unified School District (9), Lambda Legal (10), and Gavin Grimm (9) are
unresolved cases at the Supreme court of the US. Below is the detail of our findings.
Findings
For this request, we exhaustively searched articles, press releases, media publication, the
Supreme Court of The US (SCOTUS) official website, and other legal websites for
pending and potential supreme court cases related to human rights and discrimination
based on sexual orientations. We made sure the identified cases in this request have not
been concluded by the SCOTUS. To confirm this, we found a list of high profile cases that
have been completed by the SCOTUS on LAtimes (5) and Constitution Center (6).
1. In 2013, Barronelle Stutzman (7), the owner of Arlene’s Flowers, refused flora
arrangements to Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed for their wedding in Washington.
Barronelle cited her religious belief for her actions. The couple sued Barronelle for
discrimination. Washington state courts, including the Washington supreme court, ruled in
favor of the couple. However, Barronelle's defendant took the case to the US Supreme
court. The case was held up at the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) pending the final
verdict on a similar case involving a cake maker in Colorado who declined to make a
wedding cake for a (8) same-sex couple. In June 2018, the SCOTUS ruling on the
Colorado cake case was in favor of the cake maker. In light of this, the SCOTUS sent the
Barronelle case back to the state courts for reconsideration (7).
Despite the current turn of events, LGBT rights advocates remain optimistic that the
Washinton Supreme court would still rule that Barronelle had discriminated on the bases
of sexuality. Since the SCOTUS has not ruled on this case, they only ordered that it be
reviewed by the Washington Supreme court, chances are that if the Washinton Supreme
court rules against Barronelle, she would yet again return to the SCOTUS. What this case
could mean to the LGBT population in the US is to clearly state on a nationwide level that
businesses have no right to discriminate (7).
2. In August 2017, Kenosha Unified School District (9) filed a petition to the SCOTUS
challenging the ruling of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal on granting a
transgender boy, Ash Whitaker, "access to the school (9) restroom consistent with his
gender identity." The district court and the Seventh Court had cited the provision of Title
IX on gender discrimination as their foot-hold to rule in favor of Ash Whitaker.
In a similar case in Virginia, Gavin Grimm (9), a transgender sued his Gloucester County
high school to grant him access to the school restroom that conforms with his gender
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identity. Although the SCOTUS had accepted to hear this case, following the revoking of
the Obama-era regulation on transgender kids toilet access by the Trump administration,
justices discarded those plans, returning the case before the US Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals for reconsideration.
What this case could mean to the LGBT population in the US is that the outcome of this
case would bring about a nationwide ruling on transgender (9) students' access to school
restrooms that conform to their gender identity.
3. In September 2017, Lambda Legal (10), an LGBT group, filed a petition to the SCOTUS
to clarify that the provision of Title VII on the workplace discrimination because of sex
also applies to LGBTs. The question the petitioner presented to the SCOTUS was to
clarify if the provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting employment
discrimination based on gender includes discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation.
The petition also demanded that the SCOTUS review the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals verdict on the case involving Jameka Evans, a security guard at Georgia Regional
Hospital, who claimed she lost her job for being a lesbian. Evans lost the case (2) at the
11th Circuit Court, which has prompted the petition to the SCOTUS. The result of this
case would clarify if the "anti-gay workplace discrimination (10) is illegal under Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964".
On a similar case, in December 2017, the SCOTUS turned down (3) a petition by the City
of Houston to review the ruling of a Texas Supreme court on whether LGBT employees of
Houston are due the same employee benefits given to different-sex spouses. However,
the case did not get the required minimum approval of four Court members for a case to
be considered, as such, it was rejected.
Conclusion
As a recap, the cases of Barronelle Stutzman (7), Kenosha Unified School District (9),
Lambda Legal (10), and Gavin Grimm (9) are unresolved/upcoming cases at the Supreme
court of the US related to the LGBT community of the US.
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SOURCES
1) Supreme Court to begin 'potentially momentous' term for LGBT rights
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/09/20/supreme-court-set-to-begin-potential-momentous-termfor-lgbt-rights/
2) LGBT employment cases on road to Supreme Court
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/26/politics/lgbt-employment-case/index.html
3) The Major LGBT Cases the Supreme Court Won't Hear This Term as We All Wait for
Cake | ACS
https://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/the-major-lgbt-cases-the-supreme-court-won%E2%80%99t-hear-thisterm-as-we-all-wait-for-cak
4) Missouri Supreme Court hears LGBT cases
https://fox2now.com/2018/04/25/missouri-supreme-court-hears-lgbt-cases/
5) Decision time: U.S. Supreme Court's major rulings in 2018
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-supreme-court-decisions-2018-story.html#
6) Supreme Court Scorecard: The 2018 Edition (Updated 6/27/2018)
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/supreme-court-scorecard-the-spring-2018-edition
7) SCOTUS Punts Case on Florist Who Refused to Serve Same-Sex Couple
https://www.advocate.com/politics/2018/6/25/scotus-punts-case-florist-who-refused-serve-same-sexcouple
8) Supreme Court rules on narrow grounds for baker who refused to create same-sex
couple's wedding cake
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/04/supreme-court-rules-against-gay-weddingexemptions/-/
9) Trans bathroom access (again) reaches Supreme Court
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/08/25/transgender-bathroom-access-again-reaches-supremecourt/
10) Lawsuit seeking gay protections under Title VII reaches Supreme Court
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/09/07/lawsuit-seeking-gay-protections-under-title-vii-reachessupreme-court/
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