New EEOC Ruling Enormous Leap Forward In Fight Against Discrimination

WASHINGTON, DC, JULY 16, 2015 — The National LGBTQ Task Force is celebrating today’s ruling by the EEOC that sexual orientation is protected by federal civil rights law.

“This is another historic victory for LGBTQ people and their families. As with the EEOC’s Macy ruling, today’s decision is an enormous leap forward and will provide another important tool in the fight against employment discrimination and unemployment experienced by LGBTQ people. We need to further attack the scourge of discrimination in a comprehensive manner—and while LGBTQ people may file employment discrimination cases with the EEOC, we still need more. We must push for legislation that provides clear and strong protections for all LGBTQ people in every area of life — from housing to health care,” said Rea Carey, National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director.

For decades, the National LGBTQ Task Force has been advocating for nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. The organization was instrumental in the introduction of the first comprehensive nondiscrimination bill in Congress by the legendary Bella Abzug; continued to push hard for more protections in the states, through the courts, and through important agency rulings such as Macy and today’s historic ruling; advocated for executive actions to provide more protections for both federal employees and the employees of federal contractors, and will continue to push for state and federal employment non-discrimination legislation.

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CONTACT:
Jorge Amaro
Media and Public Relations Director
213-842-7564
jamaro@thetaskforce.org