Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Imara Jones.

The Supreme Court on Monday decided in a 6-3 ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1967 applies to LGBTQ workers.

In what was hailed as a major victory for civil rights, six justices, including Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch voted to apply the landmark civil rights law to the LGBTQ community.

Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Explaining the ruling, Gorsuch said, “An 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… Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.” 

Justice Alito denounced the majority ruling as “preposterous,” saying, “Even as understood today, the concept of discrimination because of ‘sex’ is different from discrimination because of ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender identity.’”

The ruling comes just days after Donald Trump’s administration formally rescinded the gender identity discrimination aspect of the Affordable Care Act.

Imara Jones, journalist, intersectional-news producer, and creator of TransLash a multi-episode series about what it is like to be trangender, especially a trans person of color, at a time of social backlash. Imara is also currently a Soros Equality Fellow.

Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience. 

Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman. 

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