TransAction Florida Denounces DOJ Transgender Discrimination
TransAction Florida, the transgender inclusion division of Equality Florida, today joined civil rights organizations nationwide in denouncing the Trump administration’s latest anti-transgender move.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice will ignore established law, and will no longer interpret Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as protecting transgender worker from discrimination
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an independent agency that enforces civil rights law in the workplace, and a growing body of federal court decisions, have found sex discrimination does include discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex stereotyping — and that Title VII therefore bans anti-transgender discrimination as well.
Those existing protections were made clear in a December 15, 2014 memo under the Obama administration based on case law. But Sessions has withdrawn that memo and issued his own narrower view that the law only covers discrimination between “men and women.” Read the memo in full here.
This latest in a series of Trump administration attacks on the LGBT community signals a willingness to ignore the law and to muddy the waters in ways that may cause employers to misunderstand what the law actually requires when it comes to discrimination.
It is also a signal that the resources of the Department of Justice will now be used to defend discrimination.
TransAction and the entire Equality Florida team are committed to pushing back against this abuse of power and will continue to mobilize our community to support full equality for the LGBT community.
In pandering to extremists, Sessions is on the wrong side of history and the law. Americans, across the political spectrum, including employers, large and small, solidly support LGBT nondiscrimination protections. And the Session’s memo directly contradicts case law from the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the First, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and 11th Circuits, as well as from numerous district courts across the country.
While this action by the DOJ is alarming and reprehensible, we call on our courts to stand firm on the protections of Title VII that ensure that all Americans in the workplace are protected equally under the law.
Text RESIST to 50409 and follow the prompts, to let your elected representatives know you want them to take action to ensure equal rights for the LGBT community and a response to this despicable action by the Trump administration.
