Does federal law prevent discrimination in the workplace against gay and transgender workers? The Supreme Court will take up the next in the fall. From The New York Times:

‘The law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, forbids employment discrimination based on sex. The question for the justices is whether that language bars discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender status.

“Most federal appeals courts have interpreted the law to exclude sexual orientation discrimination. But two of them, in New York and Chicago, recently issued decisions ruling that discrimination against gay men and lesbians is a form of sex discrimination.”

The defendants in the case are two men who claimed they were fired because of their sexual orientation and a transgender woman, who was also fired. From The Hill:

“In the third case, a transgender woman revealed her identity to her employer — a funeral home run by a “devout Christian” — saying she planned to present as a woman at work ahead of sex reassignment surgery. The woman, Aimee Stephens, was then fired.”