Comment on Justice Department Position on Civil Rights Act and LGBT Protections

NEW YORK — The Justice Department filed a brief today arguing that LGBT people are not protected from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The brief was on the case Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., No. 15-3775, pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York.

James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT & HIV Project, said:

“On the day that will go down in history as Anti-LGBT Day, comes one more gratuitous and extraordinary attack on LGBT people’s civil rights. The Sessions-led Justice Department and the Trump administration are actively working to expose people to discrimination.

“Fortunately, courts will decide whether the Civil Rights Act protects LGBT people, not an Attorney General and a White House hell-bent on playing politics with people's lives. We are confident that the courts will side with equality and the people.”