equal protection

What should equal protection of the law encompass? Until fairly recently, there has not been any cognizable claim for a transgender person, or a gay man or lesbian, to claim any sort of equal rights or protection against discrimination. This has changed somewhat, but for the LGBT community, some of the bundle of rights that most of us assume as our birthright are simply lacking. Under Title VII, employers of 15 or more persons are prohibited from employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion or sex.

Words mean different things to different people. Context, history, education, experience and so many other factors are determinative of how I understand what you are saying. So what does it mean when the law says that discrimination on the basis of sex is prohibited?

"A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may very greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used" Justice Holmes

The Court has, over time, further defined what 'sex' meant in Title VII. They have said that it includes sexual harassment (Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986)), which can be quid pro quo- explicit or implicit coercion of sexual acts, or a hostile environment-where things are so bad that the 'reasonable person' under the circumstances would quit. Gender stereotyping may be actionable if it has discriminatory impact.

Title VII has largely been held inapplicable to discrimination/sexual harassment suits brought by transgender persons claiming they were treated differently based on their sexual identity.

Based on a close reading of Title VII, and the apparent legislative intent, I too find it hard to locate the basis for a colorable federal claim for a person discriminated against in their employment based on their sexual identity or their sexual orientation. And that is the part that concerns me. I understand that the courts, even if they are activist in their leanings, must apply the law as they find it. Here, Title VII has limited application. I know it was enacted to address a then-current social problem. We humans have been co-existing on this planet for a long time, but we seem to be destined to repeat our mistakes. Today, in a country where equal protection of the law is a basic tenet, a person has no federal claim if they are fired or mistreated because they are gay, or transgendered, or simply do not fit the societal norms for their biological gender (21 states have some statutory protections in place).

How does a person's sexual identity impact their employability?