Some of the globe's most-admired companies have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court calling for it to find that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans workplace discrimination against people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider the issue in a trio of cases to be heard in October.

The brief was organized by five LGBT rights advocates: the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Lambda Legal, Out & Equal, Out Leadership, and Freedom for All Americans.

Two-hundred-and-six companies, including Apple, Facebook, Disney, Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, and Northrup Grumman, signed the brief written by the Los Angeles-based law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP.

“Interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to exclude sexual orientation or gender identity from protections against sex discrimination would have wide-ranging, negative consequences for businesses, their employees, and the U.S. economy,” the brief states. “Our nation's employers and employees would benefit from this Court's recognition that members of the nation's large and productive LGBT workforce are protected from such sex-based discrimination in the workplace.”

HRC said in a statement that “these employers know first-hand that protecting the LGBTQ community is both good for business and the right thing to do.”