US Supreme Court ruling on sexual orientation and gender identity ‘extremely positive’ – UN expert

中文

GENEVA (17 June 2020) – A UN expert today hailed a historic judgment issued by the US Supreme Court, which ruled that firing an individual on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is unlawful.

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, called the court’s decision “a very significant step toward breaking the cycle of discrimination that often condemns LGBT and gender-diverse persons to social exclusion and ultimately to poverty”.

The US ruling was issued on 15 June in relation to three cases: Gerald Bostock, who was fired from a county job in Georgia after he joined a gay softball team; Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor who was fired after disclosing he was gay to a client; and Aimée Stephens, who was fired from her job at a Michigan funeral home two weeks after telling her boss she intended to live full-time as a woman.
“The judgment will have an extremely positive impact in addressing stigma, promoting sociocultural and economic inclusion and furthering legal recognition of gender identity, all of which have been identified by my mandate as fundamental to address the root causes of violence and discrimination,” said Madrigal-Borloz.
In most UN Member States, national laws do not provide adequate protection from employment-related discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. In the absence of such laws, employers may be able to fire or refuse to hire or promote people simply because they are – or are simply thought to be – gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans or gender-diverse.

The US ruling clarified that Title VII of the country’s Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which bans discrimination based on sex – is applicable to sexual orientation and gender identity.
The expert said the case also illustrates the vital role that victims can play in furthering justice.
“It is sad to note that two of the victims in these cases did not live to see the outcome of their struggle, but uplifting to know that their resolve, their resilience and their determination will now benefit millions of LGBT persons,” the expert said.
ENDS
Mr. Victor Madrigal-Borloz (Costa Rica) assumed the role of UN Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for a three years period starting on 1 January 2018. Victor Madrigal-Borloz is a senior visiting researcher at the Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program. He served as the Secretary-General of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT. A member of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, Mr Madrigal-Borloz was Rapporteur on Reprisals and oversaw a draft policy on the torture and ill-treatment of LGBTI persons. Prior to this, he led technical work on numerous cases, reports and testimonies as Head of Litigation and Head of the Registry at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and has also worked at the Danish Institute for Human Rights (Copenhagen, Denmark) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (San José, Costa Rica).
The Independent Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
For inquiries and media requests, please contact Ms. Catherine de Preux De Baets (cdepreuxdebaets@ohchr.org).
For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Renato de Souza (+41 22 928 9855 / rrosariodesouza@ohchr.org) and John Newland (mediaconsultant2@ohchr.org)

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