In August, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to legalize firing workers in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer  (LGBTQ+) community.

They have filed a brief that states that their interpretation of the sexual discrimination claim does not protect LGBTQ+ identities. This endangers the jobs of many LGBTQ+ people in America who rely on the sexual discrimination defense. This claim originally protected women in the workforce, but was changed to protect LGBTQ+ community as well. With the recent conversation asking to change the law, many people are scared, not knowing if they will be jobless soon.

Vice President Mike Pence has said that keeping homosexual relationships from marrying is “Gods idea” when talking about LGBTQ+ marriage. The quote gives the impression that all of Trump’s administration is bias against LGBTQ+ people. With the recent addition of more republican Supreme Court Justices, the idea of the law passing is not impossible. 

The sexual discrimination claim can be summed up as the argument that if you were a different gender, you would not be fired. The Supreme Court currently holds a position that does not protect sexuality and gender identity. Due to the fact that the supreme court currently holds a republican majority, the outcome could very well be in the Trump Administrations favor. Despite this, one could say that if you were a straight man instead of a lesbian, you would not get fired, and be protected by the claim.

The only sure way to ensure that the sexual discrimination claim protects people is to amend the claim so that it also protects sexual orientation. If the claim were adapted to specifically protect sexuality and gender identity, it would prevent employers from firing workers for being a part of the LGBTQ+ community. We do not know what the Supreme Court will decide, if anything at all. The Supreme Court will likely make a decision soon, but until then we will wait.