About this Case
In the first case, a homosexual, working for Clayton County, Georgia, as a child welfare services coordinator, was fired from his job when an internal audit of the program funds he managed was conducted. He filed a charge of discrimination with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and lost his case. He then filed a lawsuit in federal district court and lost, so he appealed to the Eleventh Circuit court where he lost once again.
In the second case, an instructor for a skydiving company was fired for inappropriately touching a female client. She claimed he shared his sexual orientation with her as an excuse to take advantage of her. He sued in federal court claiming he was fired because of his sexual orientation and lost. He then asked the full court to rehear his case at which point he won.
The third case involved a male director of a funeral home who was terminated from his job when he informed the owner of the funeral home he was going to transition from a male to a female. He filed a complaint with the EEOC which, after an investigation, brought charges against the funeral home. The owner of the funeral home appealed to Sixth Circuit court where he lost.
Summary of NLF's Brief
We, along with Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and four other groups filed this brief asking the Supreme Court to reverse the decisions made by the Sixth and Second Circuits, and affirm the Eleventh Circuit’s decision. We argued that sex does not include gender identity or sexual orientation. Congress and the state legislatures have repeatedly considered adding “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to existing civil rights categories. Only 20 states and D.C. have done so, and Congress has repeatedly refused to do so. We argued that solid social science and health statistics support legislatures that have not incorporated gender identity and sexual orientation into their civil rights laws. Therefore sexual orientation should not be included in the term “sex” in the civil rights law at issue in this case.