The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month on three employment discrimination cases—cases in which the plaintiffs were fired not because of job performance but simply for being gay or transgender. As a lifelong Republican, I believe all Americans should have the opportunity to work and the freedom to go about their daily lives without the fear of discrimination.
As speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2009-19, I tried to be a listener and a consensus-builder focused on improving people's daily lives, rather than on extreme polarization. Over the years, I have watched Texans grow and learn and change on LGBTQ rights.
Even more than the potential economic fallout, I worried about the human cost of discrimination. During this fight, I got to know many LGBTQ Texans, and especially transgender people, and their families. That summer, as some in the state repeatedly demonized transgender people, we learned that calls to an LGBTQ youth crisis hotline hit unprecedented levels.
These cases are important because, as many people are surprised to learn, there are no federal laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace. Almost 30 states—including Texas—also lack specific statewide protections. The Supreme Court now has the chance to make explicit what is already implicit—and to do so consistent with the text of the law, with its own precedents, and with rulings by a rising number of lower federal courts.
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