The Trump administration’s ongoing push to limit LGBT rights in employment, health care, and education faces the threat of more litigation following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that extended job protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Several federal agencies, including Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education departments, have in recent years issued guidance and rulemaking that rolled back LGBT rights or bolstered religious liberties. Early indications show the high court’s
June 15 decision could have broad reach on other statutes, attorneys and academics say.
And agencies likely will have to continue defending in court efforts that civil rights advocates say could lead to discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
“Some of the law isn’t already established, but we expect to see a lot of cases challenging the rollback of gender identity protections,” said Christy Mallory, state policy & education initiatives director at the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, which focuses on LGBT issues.
Just days after the decision, a
lawsuit challenged a rule limiting transgender individuals’ access to health care. That came as the administration already was embroiled in litigation over a
separate regulation that would have granted religious discrimination protections to doctors and other workers who object to performing or participating in a patient’s care, which can include gender-affirming surgeries.
The administration also is finalizing a regulation that would bolster
religious defenses some government contractors can raise against workers’ LGBT discrimination claims. Agency guidance that conflicts with the high court’s ruling could play a role in lawsuits over
transgender students using the bathroom or locker room of their choice and participating on sports teams.
