LGBT Groups Call On Trump's DOJ To Implement SCOTUS Ruling

Fourteen civil and LGBT rights groups are calling on the Department of Justice to implement a recent Supreme Court ruling stating that federal civil rights laws extend to LGBT workers.

The high court in Bostock ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In a letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, the groups ask the Justice Department to “begin coordinating full implementation of this decision, including by instructing your department and other federal agencies to withdraw any guidance or instruction that is inconsistent with the Court's holding that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and transgender status is unlawful sex discrimination.”

The Trump administration had argued in the case that federal law allows such discrimination.

The groups said that the high court's ruling – which was confined to employment discrimination – applies broadly because it hinged on the definition of sex.

“The Supreme Court's analysis of what constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex relied on a textual reading that applies with equal force to other statutory prohibitions of sex discrimination,” the groups wrote. “Indeed, federal courts have routinely relied on the scope of sex discrimination protection provided by the Civil Rights Act to inform decisions regarding sex discrimination coverage under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Fair Housing Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and many other statutes.”

Groups signing onto the letter include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Lambda Legal, the National Women's Law Center, Family Equality, Freedom for All Americans, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National LGBTQ Task Force, PFLAG National, SAGE: Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders, the Transgender Law Center (TLC).