Laws in general can be confusing, and even more so when these laws are often dependent on where you live. Nowhere else is this more prevalent is with respect to LGBTQ rights.
Take Florida, for example, my home state. Florida does not have any statewide statute that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ people. By contrast, the Florida Civil Human Rights Act makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status. Of course, it says nothing explicitly about sexual orientation or gender identity, nor have Florida courts been extending that act to encompass LGBTQ civil rights.
On the other hand, many of the larger cities, as well as the surrounding counties, have crafted their own ordinances. Here, where I live in Tampa, we have the Hillsborough County Human Rights Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, gender/sex, age (includes under age 40), national origin, religion, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. And if you live within the city limits of Tampa itself, there is a City of Tampa municipal Human Rights ordinance that includes sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, and includes employment, housing, and public accommodations.
Similarly, if I go into nearby Pinellas County, or St. Petersburg in particular, LGBTQ rights are well protected. But what happens if you cross the adjacent Pasco or Polk county lines? Well, in most instances, in those counties, you are not protected at all. Pasco, in particular, has been a battleground recently with respect to Transgender children, with the school district attempting to craft policies that protect Transgender students, and angry, conservative parents protesting.
And as with much of the country at the moment, the debate largely is now reframed as between those who favor LGBTQ rights, and those who claim that laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ individuals are infringing on their “religious rights”, the current conservative newspeak for hatred of LGBTQ people.
Unfortunately, things are looking dire at the federal level. Many areas around the country have seen favorable rulings from federal district and circuit judges with respect to LGBTQ discrimination. However, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on October 8 with respect to whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (dealing with employment rights) applies to cases of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. The tricky legal issue is that many lower courts have interpreted anti-LGBTQ discrimination as a type of “sex discrimination”, and as a result, they have held that such discrimination is barred under Title VII. However, the Trump administration has submitted arguments opposing that perspective, and arguing that it is “ok” to fire or discriminate against workers solely on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Furthermore, it is likely that the ruling, whichever way it goes, will affect all federal laws dealing with discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as well as the Fair Housing Act. Given the current conservative edge on the Supreme Court, it is more likely than not that the Court has already made up its mind to rule in favor of LGBTQ discrimination. If that happens, at least it will not affect the lower state, county, and city ordinances, because the specific issue before the Court is whether Title VII applies to anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and should not reach the issue of whether “religious rights” to discriminate trump the rights of those discriminated against.
In the meantime, we can only hope and pray that if the Supreme Court finds in favor of bigotry, that the legislature passes the Equality Act, which continues to stall in the Senate. Under that law, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression would be added specifically, without any further handwringing over whether the definition of “sex” includes those categories.
As for now, however, do you know if you are protected? Do you think you could look up all those laws, ordinances, and acts and determine whether your legal rights have been violated? As you can see, this is a pretty complicated battlefield, and you need someone who understands it, and can help determine whether you have a case. Give us a call. I am more than happy to take a look at your case and see if there might be something that we can do for you.