Justice Dept. Decides to Offer Its Unprovoked Two Cents on LGBT Workplace Discrimination

Yesterday, the Justice Department decided to crush any inklings of hope that the Trump administration kind of cared about LGBT people. First, Donald Trump tweeted that transgender people would no longer be welcome to serve in the military. Then, lawyers filed an amicus brief with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an elf in a human suit, that claimed Title VII does not protect LGBT workers from workplace discrimination.

The filing is in regard to a 2nd Circuit civil lawsuit involving a New York man’s 2010 firing from his job as a sky diving instructor due to his sexuality. Though the man has since passed in a base-jumping accident, his case would still set a precedent for other LGBT workers facing similar workplace discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), another federal agency, has filed a brief in support of Title VII’s protection of LGBT workers from discrimination based on their sexuality. What makes this case especially unique is that the DOJ has no business arguing in a civil lawsuit. They offered their opinion completely unprompted and seemingly for no reason other than to make life more difficult for LGBT Americans.

Because of the wording of Title VII and it’s barring of discrimination based on “sex,” it is possible that, with their back against a wall, one could argue that the legislation only protects against workplace discrimination based on gender, not sexuality. The question is, why would you want to argue that? Why would you argue—voluntarily, we add—that your fellow Americans should not be protected from discrimination based on their sexuality?

It seems that the Trump Administration have scratched out the end of the Pledge of Allegiance and replaced “with liberty and justice for all” with “with liberty and justice for only me and my fellow greedy men.” One thing’s for certain: history has not and will not look kindly on those who seek to strip a person of their rights.