Texas advocates celebrate Supreme Court ruling extending protections to LGBTQ workers
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal law protects LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace — a historic win for LGBTQ rights nationwide that extends protections to Texans.
In a 6-3 decision, the court found that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which bars discrimination on the basis of sex — also prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The ruling is especially significant in Texas, which is one of at least 17 states that does not have state laws that explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes in the workplace.
For Stacy Bailey, a Mansfield art teacher, Monday’s ruling is a personal one. In 2017, Bailey was placed on administrative leave for about eight months after a parent complained that during an activity on the first day of school, Bailey had shown pictures to her students that included her then-fiancee, now wife, Julie Vasquez.
Bailey was embroiled in a years-long legal battle, and reached a settlement with the district earlier this year in February. Bailey’s teaching contract was renewed, but she was moved from Charlotte Anderson Elementary School in Arlington to Lake Ridge High School, where she has now taught for two years.
“My life was forever changed. I had my elementary classroom for 10 years. I was ‘Teacher of the Year’ two times and that school was my actual family. And it was taken from me because of the harassment from one parent and the discrimination that was backed by my school district. And I can never get that back,” Bailey said.
“So the pain of what happened to me I will live with for the rest of my life. But rulings like this do give me hope that at least maybe this won’t happen again to another gay teacher.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling stems from cases where employers had allegedly fired long-time employees after they shared they were gay or transgender.
“An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion. “Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”
While some of Texas’ largest cities, including Fort Worth, have ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, there is no state law providing those protections statewide.
For years lawmakers have advocated for greater protections. In an effort spearheaded by members of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have vowed to bring forward a comprehensive bill to do just that next session. Passing such protections would likely be an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, but the caucus said in a statement Monday that it’s “committed to continuing these advances with a broad and inclusive agenda.”
Rep. Erin Zwiener, a Democrat from Driftwood and a member of the caucus, recounted coming out to one person when she was 17 years old — and waiting a decade before she did with anyone else.
“And a big part of that is that I was working in a traditionally conservative industry, where me being out would have been a risk to my continued employment,” Zwiener said. “So it’s very exciting to think that today’s young people are not going to face the same level of pressure to stay closeted to protect their financial opportunities.”
In addition to the comprehensive nondiscrimination bill, Zwiener said she hopes to see progress made on legislation that would ban conversion therapy for minors, decriminalize same-sex relationships among minors and provide greater protections to LGBTQ youth in foster care.
Wesley Story, a communications associate with Progress Texas, a nonprofit that advocates for progressive ideals, said Monday’s decision sets Texas on a path toward full equality — but more can be done.
“Now that the Court has ruled in favor of LGBTQ protections in the workplace, it’s time to expand those protections to other areas including education, housing, and health care,” Story said in a statement Monday. “Texas can take the first step in doing this by passing an anti-discrimination law as soon as possible.”
Ricardo Martinez, the CEO of Equality Texas, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights in Texas, said in a statement Monday that there are gaps that still need to be addressed, noting that Black transgender women face some of the highest rates of discrimination.
“Our laws need to remedy systemic racism and inequality — our movement’s pursuit of LGBTQ equality is far from done,” Martinez said.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, at least 26 transgender or gender non-conforming people were fatally shot or killed in the U.S. in 2019 — and the majority were Black women.
Emmett Schelling, the executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, said that while Monday’s decision is a step toward legal equality that should be celebrated, there are still issues affecting the transgender community that deserve people’s attention.
Last week, the murders of two Black transgender women — Riah Milton in Ohio and Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells in Pennsylvania — gained national attention. And Friday the Trump administration finalized a rule that removes nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in healthcare.
“This case didn’t come in and just sweep that out,” Schelling said. “This does not solve discrimination in employment, but it is a major step forward in the full picture of the scope of the work that needs to be done.”
Bailey said she hopes Monday’s ruling will result in a domino effect, causing school districts to pass policies that extend protections to LGBTQ teachers and students from discrimination.
“I hope that gay teachers who have been in their profession, living in fear, not able to bring their whole self to work — I hope that they see this ruling as an affirmation that they are valued, that they’re worthy and that they’re worthy of equal treatment,” Bailey said. “I hope that this gives them courage to be themselves in the classroom.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 11:41 AM.
