LGBT rights victory may face challenges with upcoming cases concerning religious exclusions
While the recent Supreme Court 6-3 ruling provides workplace protections against LGBT discrimination under federal law, it did not address remaining related issues, such as whether individuals, organizations and businesses have the right to claim a religious exemption from anti-discrimination laws. In its next term, the Court will determine whether the city of Philadelphia violated the Constitution's first amendment when it denied Catholic Social Services the ability to participate in foster care programs due to that organization's belief that same-sex parents could not be involved in foster care. If the Court, which has a 5-4 conservative majority, chooses to rule against this case, there are other federal laws, notably the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allows employers religious-based defenses. The employers in the ruling on Monday had used this federal law in their arguments, but the Supreme Court on Monday chose not to rule definitively on this matter, stating merely that "how doctrines protecting religious liberty interact with Title VII...are questions for future cases."
See "LGBT rights victory may face challenges with upcoming cases concerning religious exclusions", Lawrence Hurley, Jan Wolfe, Reuters, June 17, 2020