Pittsburgh LGBTQ groups applaud Supreme Court ruling

Western Pennsylvania’s LGBTQ community praised Monday’s Supreme Court decision to protect gay and transgender worker rights.

“We are beyond proud to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling protecting LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination in America. It is long overdue, and it is the result of years of activism and sacrifice by so many,” SisTers PGH, the Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Advisory Council and the Transgender Coalition of Pennsylvania said in a joint statement.

The court decided by a 6-3 vote that gay and transgender people are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That provision bars employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex as well as race, color, national origin and religion.

“I don’t think anyone would have expected a 6-3 ruling,” said Christine Bryan, director of marketing and development for Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh.

Bryan noted that the ruling is important because it’s the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on something for the transgender community.

Although before Monday’s ruling there were protections for LGBTQ employees who live in Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh, those in surrounding counties were not protected in the workplace, Bryan said.

“You could get married in one county one day, then get fired from your job the next in another county,” Bryan said.

Members of the LGBTQ community said the Supreme Court decision provides much-needed protection in Pennsylvania, an at-will employment state where an employer can fire an employee anytime for any reason.

“Folks find loopholes to discriminate and we are going to keep fighting to fix this,” said Naiymah Sanchez of Philadelphia, the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s transgender justice coordinator.

LGBTQ employees are among the most vulnerable and most discriminated against in the workplace, especially transgender people, said Karl Shaley, office manager of the Pittsburgh Equality Center.

“If they haven’t had a legal switch-over to the gender they identify with, their employer can see someone is a trans eventually on paperwork, then fire them or not hire them at all,” Shaley said.