Level-headed voices on both sides of the debate over religious freedom and gay and transgender rights have always acknowledged that we have to draw the line somewhere between opposite extremes. We can’t have zero civil rights protections for gay or transgender people, nor should we enact such expansive protections that a female waxer could be forced to wax a transgender person’s testicles against their will. The fight over where to draw this line has bitterly divided the public.
Yet with Wednesday’s landmark decision in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, the Supreme Court has established a fair balance. At least, when it comes to employment protections and the autonomy of private religious schools.
The court earlier this year ruled in another case that federal anti-discrimination employment protections apply to gay and transgender Americans. Now, in a 7-2 decision, it finds that private religious schools are exempted from anti-discrimination laws for employee positions that involve important religious functions.
Yet with Wednesday’s landmark decision in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, the Supreme Court has established a fair balance. At least, when it comes to employment protections and the autonomy of private religious schools.
The court earlier this year ruled in another case that federal anti-discrimination employment protections apply to gay and transgender Americans. Now, in a 7-2 decision, it finds that private religious schools are exempted from anti-discrimination laws for employee positions that involve important religious functions.
LGBTQ employment rights by vpickering is licensed under Creative Commons Flickr
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