More than 100 lawmakers have asked the
Trump administration to implement a recent Supreme Court ruling
stating that federal civil rights laws extend to LGBT workers.
The high court in Bostock ruled
that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans employment
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In a
letter addressed to President Donald Trump, the lawmakers asked
the White House to “direct all relevant agencies to undertake a
review of all regulations, executive orders, and agency policies that
implicate legal protections for LGBTQ individuals under federal civil
rights laws.”
The lawmakers said that the high court
had rejected the administration's claim that such discrimination is
allowed under federal law.
“All people should have confidence
that their federal government is working to protect – not undermine
– their rights,” the lawmakers wrote. “We therefore ask that
you take immediate steps to ensure that LGBTQ people enjoy the full
protections of the nation's federal civil rights laws.”
In a separate letter addressed to
Defense Secretary Mark Esper and U.S. Attorney General William Barr,
116 members of Congress called on the agencies to end the ban on
openly transgender military service.
The lawmakers also cite Bostock
in calling on Esper and Barr to act. Transgender service members “are
risking their lives to serve our country and [the policy] should be
reversed immediately,” they wrote.