The Supreme Court will hear a religious expression case that could have serious negative outcomes for the LGBTQ+ community. The case, Groff v. DeJoy , involves Gerald Groff, a former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) worker who, due to his religious beliefs, wanted an exemption from working on Sundays. “Observing the Sabbath day is critical to many faiths — a day ordained by God,” said Randall Wenger , chief counsel at the Independence Law Center, the religious conservative legal firm representing Groff. “No one should be forced to violate the Sabbath to hold a job.” Federal law and legal precedent require employers to “reasonably accommodate” their workers’ religious practices in a “de minimis” (minor) way, so as to inflict as little “undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business” as possible, Vox explains . Religious conservatives and Christian nationalists have long wanted protections for forcing their religious beliefs on others. The Supreme Court’s current 6-to-3 conservative majority has already shown a willingness to misrepresent a case’s facts in order to blur the separation of church and state — just as it did in its 2022 ruling in favor of a football coach whose allegedly “private” and “quiet” prayers actually […]
