Rep. Sibilia: End of Pride and 59th Birthday for the Civil Rights Act July 2, 1964

Today is the 59th birthday of the American Civil Rights Act, which officially ended Jim Crow Laws, advanced women’s rights and equality, set the stage for the expansion of protections for LGBTQ+ individuals and protected employees from being hired, fired, promoted or subjected to any other employment related decision based on their religion.

Yesterday was the end of the official Pride Month, which honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, a turning point in the effort by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer community to challenge centuries of abuse.

Here is a bit more information about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

From the History Channel: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. First proposed by President John F. Kennedy, it survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress and was then signed into law by Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. In subsequent years, Congress expanded the act and passed additional civil rights legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Civil Rights Act, (1964), was passed with the intention of ending discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. It was one of the most important U.S. laws on civil rights since Reconstruction (1865–77) and is a significant point in time for American’s effort to ensure civil rights for all.

Title I of the act guarantees equal voting rights by removing registration requirements and procedures biased against minorities and the underprivileged.
Title II prohibits segregation or discrimination in places of public accommodation involved in interstate commerce.
Title VII bans discrimination by trade unions, schools, or employers involved in interstate commerce or doing business with the federal government, and also applies to discrimination on the basis of sex.
The act also calls for the desegregation of public schools (Title IV),
broadens the duties of the Civil Rights Commission (Title V),
and assures nondiscrimination in the distribution of funds under federally assisted programs (Title VI).

Over the years, courts have clarified that the interpretation of “sex” discrimination includes protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.

On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark 6-3 decision affirming that the prohibition on sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act extends to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This decision resulted from three cases: Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda and Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, in which gay men were fired because of their sexual orientation, and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission, where a transgender woman was fired because of her gender identity. The Supreme Court combined these cases and issued the single Bostock opinion which it held that “an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.” The Supreme Court’s opinion, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch stated that “it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.”
Director, M. C. A., Coleman, M., Director, A., Gordon, Director, P., Gordon, P., Director, Manager, N. F. S., Fowler, N., Manager, S., Maxwell, C., Olinsky, B., & Miller, B. (2019, October 1). Beyond bostock: The future of LGBTQ civil rights. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/beyond-bostock-future-lgbtq-civil-rights/

Happy American Independence Day Weekend!

Rep. Laura Sibilia