Fifty-two percent of the estimated 11 million LGBTQ people in the U.S. live in states where no laws ban job discrimination, according to news reports Tuesday, as the Supreme Court hears arguments on three cases that could guarantee federal protections for workers across the country.
"Most Americans are shocked to learn that we lack explicit laws protecting LGBTQ people from being fired for who they are or who they love," Naomi Goldberg, policy research director for the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), told USA Today.
"That 52% of LGBTQ adults live in states without explicit protections means that the cases before the Supreme Court are even more consequential."
Founded in 2006, MAP is a think tank headquartered in Boulder, Colo., that maintains a database on laws affecting LGBTQ people.
A 2018 report by the organization and the Washington-based National LGBTQ Workers Center estimated that about 4.5% of the U.S. population identifies as LGBTQ, for an estimated 11 million people.
Eighty-eight percent of those individuals are employed, according to the report.
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Tuesday from New York, Michigan and Georgia challenging workers who say they were dismissed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The cases question whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which bans job discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin and sex — also outlaws bias against LGBTQ people.
Title VII does not directly cite sexual orientation or gender identity as protected categories, but some federal and state agencies, courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have applied Title VII's protections against "sex" discrimination to LGBTQ people, USA Today reports.
Currently, LGBTQ people, even in states that have not banned discrimination, can seek recourse for workplace bias through the EEOC.
But a Supreme Court decision that affirms appellate court and EEOC decisions would "be important for creating clear, national understanding that discrimination against LGBTQ people is illegal," Goldberg said.
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