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The US Supreme Court has ruled on Monday that existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status.
As reported by NBC News, the decision stated that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person's sex - also covers the sexual orientation and transgender status of an individual.
The news is considered to be a major victory for advocates of LGBTQ+ rights - as well as a surprising decision from an increasingly conservative court.
Per Buzzfeed News, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion:
"Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender.
"The answer is clear: An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids."
Despite same-sex marriage being legal since 2015, employers across the US have still been able to fire workers for being LGBTQ+.
This was down to the fact that federal law has never specifically listed sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes - unlike race or national origin.
However, that came to an end today when a landmark 6-3 majority decision ruled that a federal law prohibiting workplace discrimination based on "sex" - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - does apply to cases involving LGBTQ workers.
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CNBC reports that the ruling will be considered to be a huge victory for people and families involved in the three cases heard in court that involved an individual being fired from their job because they were gay or transgender.
First, Gerald Bostock, who was fired from a county job as a child welfare services coordinator in Georgia after he joined a gay softball team.
A second case was that of Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor who was fired after telling a female client not to worry about being strapped tightly to him during a jump because he was "100 percent gay."
Zarda sadly died prior to the case reaching the Supreme Court.
The third case brought to the court was that of Aimee Stephens, a transgender funeral director who was fired after announcing her intention to present as a woman.
Tragically, Stephens passed away in her Detroit home from kidney failure last month.
