A Pleasant Shock

News Analysis: LGBT rights leaders were stunned Monday when 2 conservative justices sided with the majority in one of the most sweeping gay rights decisions by the Supreme Court so far, write Adam Nagourney and Jeremy Peters https://t.co/l8xUm7XLKr

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 15, 2020

I think there's something very bittersweet in the shock some felt that the SCOTUS decision affirmed that LGBT people should be treated equally under the law with respect to employment. It is the decision that should have been expected, in that the law speaks against discrimination on the basis of sex and how else would one define the nature of being gay or transgender without the concept of sex? But it's also unsurprising to see the dissent try to turn on quaint and outmoded definitions and social conservatives groan that they have been betrayed.

(As an church/state separation enthusiast, I'm heartened by the idea that there isn't much room for a religious exemption, in that businesses hire people to do a job, not live an identity. While it might make sense, for example, that a priest be Catholic to do a Catholic mass, or that a mohel be Jewish, I don't see what business it is of, say, a craft store, what their cashiers identify as or who they love or marry so long as they don't short their till and are good with customers.)

But in this day and age, I'll let the shock go and enjoy that there is some pleasant news for a change. I also wonder if this decision forms the basis for a challenge to the Trump Administration's decision this past Friday to permit healthcare discrimination for trans people. (Although I think it more likely it will just be reversed by the next administration before we find out.)