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For Immediate Release
June, 15 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Amanda Johnston, ajohnston@glad.org, 617-417-7769
Statement of Mary Bonauto, GLAD Civil Rights Project Director, on Supreme Court LGBTQ Title VII Ruling
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a watershed ruling affirming that federal law protects LGBTQ workers from job discrimination. In response, GLAD Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto issued the following statement:
Today's historic ruling affirms critical legal protections for LGBTQ people across the country. The Supreme Court has settled the question of whether federal employment nondiscrimination law protects transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual people. The answer is a definitive "yes."
WASHINGTON
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a watershed ruling affirming that federal law protects LGBTQ workers from job discrimination. In response, GLAD Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto issued the following statement:
Today's historic ruling affirms critical legal protections for LGBTQ people across the country. The Supreme Court has settled the question of whether federal employment nondiscrimination law protects transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual people. The answer is a definitive "yes."
The 6-3 ruling authored by Justice Gorsuch recognizes that existing federal sex discrimination protections for workers apply to LGBTQ people based on well-established precedent and because a person's sexual orientation or transgender status can only be understood in relationship to their sex. This conclusion "has been standing before us all along," the majority opinion states. Further, prohibiting employment discrimination is a "major piece of civil rights legislation" written in "starkly broad terms." As a result, the Court holds employers are liable for discrimination when an individual's "sex is a but-for cause" of harm to an employee.
Today's decision joins other foundational sex discrimination opinions about sexual harassment (1986), sex stereotyping (1989) and same-sex sexual harassment (1998), all of which the Supreme Court has found to be within the broad scope of what Congress wrote into federal Title VII law.
Our civil rights laws are intended to help our country live up to its promises of equality, and today's decision from the Supreme Court brings us another step closer to that promise.
And as right and welcome as this ruling is, our work is not done. Our federal and many state laws still leave too many LGBTQ people and others unprotected in critical areas of life including access to public places like stores or public transportation, or in federally funded vital social services. Today's ruling also arrives against the backdrop of pervasive systemic racism and racist violence, that imposes incalculable and intolerable costs on Black Americans and all people of color, including those who are LGBTQ.
The fight for LGBTQ justice is inseparable from the fight for racial justice. As we celebrate today's decision, we must continue working with Congress, state and local officials, and all institutions and all people in this nation to ensure discrimination is off limits in every arena. We must strive to ensure that the words of our statutes have meaning and real-world impacts for all Americans.
Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education,
617.426.1350LATEST NEWS
Citing 'Callous Disregard' of Hegseth, Top House Dem Does Not 'Trust' Pentagon Answers on Iran School Massacre
"Eighty days on, we have not taken responsibility for that attack," said Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
May 19, 2026
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee delivered a scathing rebuke to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership on Tuesday while asking questions about a February US military strike on an Iranian primary school in the city of Minab.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the mommittee, confronted Adm. Brad Cooper about the fact that the US still hasn't taken responsibility for the attack on the school, which killed more than 100 children, even though "it's really pretty clear what happened there."
"Eighty days on, we have not taken responsibility for that attack," Smith said. "The endless stalling—'It's being investigated, it's being investigated, it's being investigated.' In the past, when we've had these type of mistakes, they've been quickly acknowledged, even if a further investigation is necessary to figure out prevention methods. So can you, at this moment, acknowledge that that mistake was made?"
Cooper responded by emphasizing that the US "does not deliberately target civilians," while stating that the Iranian people are not "our enemy."
The first day of the Iran war saw the devastating bombing of an elementary school in Minab, killing 156 including 120 young children. The U.S. has not taken responsibility, even though an ongoing investigation implicated the U.S. months ago. This horrific crime cannot be swept… pic.twitter.com/OVEyNmNTzb
— NIAC (@NIACouncil) May 19, 2026
Smith was not satisfied with this, however, and pressed Cooper to answer whether the US takes responsibility for the attack on the school.
"The investigation is ongoing," Cooper said. "As soon as it's complete, I'm happy to..."
"So that's a no," Smith interjected. "We will not take responsibility for something we very obviously did."
"It's a complex investigation," Cooper replied. "The school itself is located on an active [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] cruise missile base. It's more complex than the average strike. As soon as we're complete, I'm fully committed to transparency."
Smith did not buy this explanation.
"I have an enormous amount of respect for you and an enormous amount of respect for the Pentagon," said Smith. "I do not trust that answer. What we've seen from this secretary of defense and his callous disregard for any sort of rules of engagement or protecting of civilian life, they make us suspicious."
Smith's grilling of Cooper earned praise from the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which said the bombing of the school "cannot be swept under the rug" by Hegseth and the Pentagon brass.
Hegseth during his tenure leading the US Department of Defense has repeatedly attacked rule of engagement as "stupid," while also authorizing a series of military strikes on purported drug-smuggling boats in international waters that many legal experts consider acts of murder.
During President Donald Trump's first term, when Hegseth was a Fox News host, he successfully lobbied the president to pardon members of the US armed forces accused or convicted of killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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'Height of Corruption': DOJ-Trump Settlement Now Says IRS Will Never Again Probe His or His Family's Taxes
"The White House is a 24/7 grift machine and we should not stop being outraged about this," said Sen. Chris Murphy.
May 19, 2026
Less than a day after a $1.77 billion settlement announced in President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service was denounced as "highway robbery" by one Democratic lawmaker, other members of Congress expressed disgust after it was reported that the taxpayer-funded deal had been updated by a top administration official to ensure the president and his family could potentially get away with defrauding the IRS in perpetuity.
A one-page document was posted on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) website early Tuesday morning, saying that under the settlement, the IRS is "forever barred and precluded" from prosecuting and pursuing any and all claims and other actions against Trump and his family members, regarding unpaid taxes.
The landmark judgement in a civil fraud case against Trump found that his two eldest son's were implicated in an extensive financial and tax fraud scheme along with the president.
The release specifically notes that it also applies to “tax returns filed before the effective date” of the settlement, which was Monday.
"The president is now exempt from our tax laws while everyone else has to obey them," said US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "Got it. It's just mind-blowing that is what's happening in America."
Politico reported on the document a day after 93 US House Democrats joined an amicus brief filed in Trump v. IRS, aiming to block the creation of a so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund" as part of the deal for the president to drop his lawsuit against the tax agency, which he filed over a leak of his tax returns.
The "slush fund," as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) called it, could be used to give monetary rewards to people convicted of felonies in connection with the January 6, 2021 attempted insurrection.
The one-page document that was attached to the settlement Tuesday was signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
US Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) called the preemptive and permanent blocking of any IRS enforcement against the Trump family "the height of corruption."
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'May Day! May Day! May Day!': Israeli Forces Intercept, Open Fire on Gaza Flotilla Activists
"With hands in the air, participants implored, ‘Do not shoot.' This is an attack on Gaza. This is an attack on humanity."
May 19, 2026
Israeli forces on Tuesday attacked and seized more vessels that were taking part in the latest Global Sumud Flotilla trying to break the illegal blockade of Gaza amid the ongoing genocide against the people of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Video posted by Global Sumud Flotilla shows Israeli forces in inflatable boats firing shots toward at least two GSF vessels, even as they are stopped and the activists aboard them have their hands held in the air in surrender. It is not clear what type of ammunition the Israelis fired in the attack, which occurred in international waters around 90-100 miles off the Gaza coast.
"This is an attack on humanity," reads the video's caption, which decried "Israeli violence against volunteers who sailed with compassion and love in their hearts."
israeli violence against volunteers who sailed with compassion and love in their hearts.
With hands in the air, participants implored ‘do not shoot’.
This is an attack on Gaza. This is an attack on humanity.
This is what apartheid looks like: when those trying to save lives… pic.twitter.com/iXoL3D24gy
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 19, 2026
"With hands in the air, participants implored, ‘Do not shoot,'" GSF said. "This is an attack on Gaza. This is an attack on humanity."
"The Israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a humanitarian corridor," GSF said after the latest seizures, which began Monday, as Common Dreams reported.
"This is what apartheid looks like: When those trying to save lives are met with bullets," the group continued. "When aid is blocked with brutality. When international law is made a mockery. Israel openly bragged that they would target based on race. We cannot stand by while this is normalized."
In another video posted by GSF, one member is seen talking into a ship's radio—at least one of which was apparently jammed by Israeli forces, who broadcast Britney Spears' 2000 hit "Oops!... I Did It Again" through their speakers.
"May Day! May Day! May Day! This is sailing vessel Zefiro... We are surrounded by military vessels, we are aware that other ships in our fleet have been boarded, and we expect further escalation of hostilities," the man says. "We are in international waters; we are suffering an act of piracy!"
GSF said that hundreds of activists from over 40 countries were "being forcibly transferred" to Israel, where past flotilla participants say they were physically and psychologically tortured by their captors.
In 2010, Israeli forces raided one of the first Gaza-bound flotillas, killing nine volunteers aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, including Turkish-American teenager Furkan Doğan.
"States have an obligation to protect their citizens," GSF said Tuesday. "Flag states under whose jurisdiction our boats are registered have an obligation to protect those vessels and prosecute acts of piracy in their courts."
"We are outraged by the normalization of these violations of international maritime law and the kidnapping of peaceful civilians in international waters," GSF added. "We demand the immediate release of our participants, the safe passage of our entire fleet, and an end to the illegal siege of Gaza."
On Monday, Israeli forces reportedly seized 41 GSF vessels that set sail from Marmaris, Turkey last week. Among the activists reportedly abducted on Monday is Dr. Margaret Connolly, the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly. Ireland is one of nearly 20 nations that have formally joined South Africa's genocide case against Israel that is currently before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
“It seems like this happened in international waters, and it’s a cause of worry, really, and I’m very proud of my sister, but I’m worried about her,” the president said Monday.
In stark contrast, the Trump administration on Tuesday announced US Treasury Department sanctions against four flotilla organizers.
More than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded in Gaza, including thousands who are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble. Almost all of Gaza's approximately 2.1 million people have been forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened by Israel's war and siege since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.
Palestinians are still starving in Gaza, as Israel's ongoing blockade—which began two decades ago—has resulted in a sharp decline in the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the strip in recent months. The United Nations World Food Program recently said that at least 1.6 million people—or 77% of Gaza's population—are still "facing high levels of acute food insecurity," including more than 100,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.
GSF on Tuesday urged Palestine defenders around the world to contact their governments and demand the immediate release of flotilla members, condemnation of Israeli crimes and state terrorism, an end to Israeli impunity, and support for Palestinian liberation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court—also in The Hague—for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, praised the Naval commander in charge of intercepting the flotilla.
“You are doing an outstanding job, both in the first flotilla and in this part as well, and are effectively thwarting a malicious plan intended to break the isolation we are imposing on Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” he said Monday. “You are doing this with great success, and I must say also, quietly, and certainly with less publicity than our enemies expected."
Israeli officials have repeatedly invoked the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea—often shortened to the San Remo Manual—to justify the interception and seizure of flotilla vessels attempting to reach Gaza on the high seas.
However, Don Rothwell, professor of international law at the Australian National University, refuted the legitimacy of that claim, which applies to international war between sovereign states, given Palestine's lack of independence.
"There is no international armed conflict between Israel and the independent state of Palestine," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday. "As such, any attempt to enforce the blockade... has no legal basis under international law."
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