US Supreme Court's ruling favors LGBT against Trump

President Donald Trump is widely known as a staunch conservative and a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. And we all know that conservatives and republicans are generally, not pro-gays, just as they are not pro-immigrant, they are not pro-labor nor pro-unions. This time, Trump loses a major legal skirmish against the LGBT community.

The US Supreme Court, in a landmark decision released on June 15, rebuffed the president and ruled that Title VII of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based on sex is applicable to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and other shades of sex orientation and gender identity. The conservatives define sex only as male and female and they refuse to acknowledge that there are variations in between. Actually, that 1964 law was a product of the struggles of American minorities, like the blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and the LGBTs. This ruling is a major blow to President Trump who does not approve of LGBTs serving in the military.

This landmark decision, written by Trump's own appointee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, is really a big headache to Trump, especially that another conservative appointed by President Bush (the son), John Roberts, joined Gorsuch and concurred with the liberal interpretation. The three women in the court who are all liberals, as expected, concurred with Gorsuch, namely Justices Ruth Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, together with a male liberal Stephen Breyer. The conservatives dissented, namely Clarence Thomas, the only black in the highest court, joined by Samuel Alito and Brent Kavanaugh, another Trump appointee.

This consolidated decision started with one case involving Gerald Bostock a Georgia county personnel who was fired simply because he joined a gay softball team. It also involved another case of Donald Zarda who was fired from his job as a skydiving instructor when he disclosed to a customer that he was gay. The third case concerned Aimee Stevens who was also fired from her job in Michigan for disclosing that she wanted to be a full woman. These cases were consolidated on appeal because they all involved the same issue; the validity of dismissal based on gender preference.

This column concurs with the independent UN expert, Victor Borloz, who was reported to have commented that this landmark ruling will go a long way in supporting the LGBT. It has an expressly positive impact in addressing stigma issues in the workplace, in promoting inclusion based on gender issues, and in promoting legal recognition of gender preference, which are fundamental elements in combating violence, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace. However, a collateral damage is inflicted on the Trump campaign for reelection. He is known to be against many collateral issues like gay service in the military, same-sex marriages, and the like.

The LGBTs' rainbow coalitions across the 50 states are increasing in number. If they continue to vote as one and join the colored people, like the African Americans, the Hispanics, the Asians, including millions of Filipinos, then Biden will definitely gain from Trump's major losses. Combine these with the labor votes and the other major voting coalitions who have shown antipathy to the Trump presidency, then the president may be kissing the White House goodbye come the November polls.