Supreme Court to Hear Landmark Cases on LGBTQ+ Rights

At the U.S. Supreme Court, the long-awaited showdown over the rights of LGBTQ employees is center stage. On Tuesday, the justices hear a set of cases testing whether the federal law that bars sex discrimination in employment applies to LGBTQ employees.

Specifically, the question is whether employers are free to fire employees because they are gay or transgender.

The Supreme Court was hearing arguments Tuesday in two of the term's most closely watched cases over whether federal civil rights law protects LGBTQ people from job discrimination. The cases are the court's first on LGBTQ rights since Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement and replacement by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

A decision is expected by early summer 2020, amid the presidential election campaign. The issue is whether a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that bars discrimination in employment because of sex covers LGBTQ people.