In a 6-3 opinion delivered by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the United States Supreme Court in Bostock v. Clayton County interpreted Title VII of The Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination in the workplace because an individual is homosexual or transgender. On its surface, the decision was a surprise for many reasons.
Conservative justices hold a majority on the court, so many predicted that President Trump’s two conservative appointments would generally produce more conservative leaning decisions in civil rights cases. And Justice Gorsuch, who delivered the opinion and replaced the late Justice Antonin Scalia, believes in textualism, which means that the law should be interpreted literally without any examination of its purpose or legislative history. Thus, many observers were shocked that Justice Gorsuch joined conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices.
