Michigan Officials React To LGBTQ Supreme Court Ruling

MICHIGAN — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects LGBT people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT rights from a conservative court.

The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against LGBT workers.

Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas dissented.

The outcome is expected to have a big impact for the estimated 8.1 million LGBT workers across the country because most states don’t protect them from workplace discrimination. An estimated 11.3 million LGBT people live in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA law school.

The Supreme Court cases involved two gay men and a transgender woman who sued for employment discrimination after they lost their jobs.

Aimee Stephens, a Metro Detroit woman who was the focus of the first case about the civil rights of transgender people to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, died earlier this year at. She was 59.

Stephens had worked for nearly six years as a funeral director at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes when she was fired for being a transgender woman, according to previous reports by the ACLU. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Aimee's employer engaged in unlawful sex discrimination when it fired her because she's transgender.

Stephens was cited in a statement Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offered shortly after the court's ruling.

“Today, in a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed what we already know – that nobody deserves to lose their job because of who they are or how they identify,” Whitmer. “This is good news for the countless LGBTQ+ Michiganders who have been fighting for equality for decades, and would not have been possible if not for one of the plaintiffs, Aimee Stephens, a brave Michigander who fought for transgender rights until the day she died.

"There is still more work to do. We must continue fighting to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to protect members of the LGBTQ+ community and make Michigan a state where more people want to move to for opportunity. In honor of Aimee, take today to celebrate this victory, and tomorrow, let’s continue fighting to ensure equality for all Michiganders.”

Dana Nessel, the second openly gay person elected attorney general of a state in the United States as well as the first openly LGBTQ person elected to statewide office in Michigan, said Monday's ruling holds a special place in her heart.

Oakland County Executive David Coulter said Monday's decision was "an important step forward."

“Today’s historic Supreme Court opinion is a major victory for equality and fairness in our country," Coulter said in a statement. "No one should be fired simply for whom they love, and today America took an important step forward toward a more just and perfect union. Oakland County is proud to support this right for all our residents.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.