In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/17-1618_hfci.pdf

In a 6-3 decision, the court held that the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBTQ+ people cannot be discriminated against in employment. 

This is a HUGE victory and one that was not (if we are being honest and given the make-up of the Court) expected. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion and Chief Justice John Roberts joined it along with the liberal justices, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Breyer, and Kagan.

In the majority opinion, Justice Gorsuch wrote, "It is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating...based on sex." Gorsuch admitted the framers of Title VII most likely never considered sexual orientation and gender identity when they drafted the law but, he wrote, "the limits of the drafters' imagination supply no reason to ignore the law's demands."

This decision resolved questions raised by three separate federal lawsuits that were consolidated. Those cases were, Altitude Express, et al. v. Zarda, R.G. & G. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission et al., and Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. 

Two of the plaintiffs, Aimee Stephens and Donald Zarda, however, died before the decision came down.

This decision is an excellent start, but we are not out of the woods yet. There are forces arrayed against the LGBTQ+ community that will continue their assault on our civil rights. And, our community will continue to oppose their efforts to minimize our rights and our existence. 
 

​It has been several years since I last posted anything. Life has a way of imposing its own will on us. For me, it was assuming primary caregiver responsibilities for my elderly parents. In 2016, my mom’s dementia progressed to the point where she was no longer safe living independently. In consultation with her doctors, her Hospice of the Western Reserve team, my siblings, and her, we decided she needed to be in a more structured environment.
 
Mom was not happy with the change but, as the dementia became more pronounced, she only remembered the places she lived in when she was a kid. Mom died 28 December 2018. Mom and Dad are at the National Cemetery in Rittman, Ohio. 
 
It took me awhile to adjust to not being on call 24/7 and that took most of 2019 - it’s an odd experience trying to figure out what one’s new normal is after the caregiving experience. 
 
2020 started out on a positive note. My LGBT Legal Issues at Case Western Reserve University School of Law started well. I was fortunate to have an excellent cross-section of students. And, with several cases pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, there was no limit to the issues open for discussion. Spring break, in March, saw Betsy and me headed to Halifax, England. We wanted to visit Shibden Hall and meet Helena Whitbread for tea. Helena is the author of The Secret Diaries of Anne Lister, Volumes 1 and 2. And, she is a remarkable woman.
 
I started participating in the West Yorkshire Archives Anne Lister Transcription Project in 2019 and that led us to Halifax. Having first learned of Anne Lister in the early 1970s I was eager to visit Shibden as it was Anne Lister’s ancestral home. She is considered the first “modern lesbian” and is the subject of Sally Wainwright’s brilliant show, Gentleman Jack. Lister left behind 26 volumes of her journal detailing her life and loves - in plain hand and her own coded crypt hand. On March 30, 1834, she and Ann Walker took the sacrament together in church in York in what is considered the first same-sex marriage in England. They remained together until Lister’s death in 1840.
 
That trip was followed by the last 5 months of a home-stay because of the pandemic. 
 
However, there remains much to do for the LGBTQ+ community and keeping abreast of recent developments is at the forefront.