By Allison Carroll The United State Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County June 15, holding that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex encompasses protection for homosexual and transgender individuals in the workplace. Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch opined that the plain language of Title VII prohibits workplace discrimination against homosexual and transgender individuals because “[a]n 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.” Since the opinion’s release, there has been a flood of commentary regarding the impact of the decision on religious freedom, particularly with respect to hiring at religious organizations. Private religious schools in particular have surely wondered what this decision will mean for each religious institution’s hiring practices: does Bostock represent a radical shift in the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on religious freedom? Or, despite the indisputable significance of the decision, does the Court’s decision maintain the religious freedom status quo? Perhaps, however, one need look no further than the final paragraphs of the majority opinion to understand the reach […]
