Thousands urge Supreme Court to protect LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination

Thousands of groups and prominent individuals are urging the Supreme Court to rule in favor of protections for LGBTQ people to prevent discrimination in the workplace.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday announced that the 49 “friend-of-the-court briefs” are being filed in the sexual orientation discrimination cases that the justices will hear arguments in this fall.

{mosads}The briefs are backed by more than 750 religious organizations and faith leaders, about 40 civil rights groups, top medical organizations like the American Medical Association and labor groups including the AFL-CIO.

Both current and former members of Congress have also filed briefs in support of protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination at work.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) led one of the filings, while another features dozens of current and former Republicans, according to the ACLU.

“Like the majority of Americans, the individuals and entities that signed these powerful briefs in support of LGBTQ people agree that it is both wrong and unlawful to fire someone for being LGBTQ,” James Esseks, director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, said in a statement. “These briefs show that if the court rules against LGBTQ people, everyone who has been protected from discrimination on the basis of sex will be put in harm’s way.”

Esseks is serving as counsel in two of the three cases being considered by the Supreme Court.

The justices announced earlier this year that they would hear arguments on whether federal law guarding against workplace discrimination on the basis of sex also applies to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

They will also consider if the same statute protects transgender people in the workplace, based on their transgender identification.

Oral arguments in the cases have been scheduled for Oct. 8.