This is a GREAT DAY for the United States of America. [View all]

[Laelth]

The Supreme Court has ruled that “gender” is a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That means that businesses can not take “adverse employment action”—firing, not hiring, demoting, or otherwise penalizing employees on the basis of their gender, be they gay, lesbian, bi, trans, or whatever. This is a major change in American law. Previously, a gay person could be fired just for being gay. That was perfectly legal. That changed today. Previously, a gay person could be denied services at “common carrier” businesses like hotels and restaurants just because they were gay. That changed today. We have no idea what the further implications of this ruling will be, but they will be significant, and they will be good.

The Clean Water Act has been preserved. The Trump administration sought to effectively gut the act, and the SCOTUS denied the government’s plea to gut the Act. This is a major victory for those of us who value our environment.

The SCOTUS ruled that the State of Texas can not execute a suspect who was denied effective assistance of counsel. Previously, the SCOTUS has declined to hear such cases—allowing the state of Texas to execute prisoners as it saw fit. This time the SCOTUS decided that it would hear the case if Texas decided to execute someone who made an “ineffective assistance of counsel argument.” This is an enormous change in SCOTUS jurisprudence.

But THE MAIN THING is this. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Niel Gorsuch joined 4 liberals on the Court in these decisions, giving us a 6-3 majority. Gorsuch actually wrote the opinion securing LGBT+!rights. This is an ENORMOUS and EXCELLENT change. I will not promise that it will last, but, for the moment, I feel that this is a great day for the United States—a day worthy of celebration.



-Laelth