There are 70 countries where same-sex sexual activity is a crime, including six that impose the death penalty and 26 that will sentence violators to prison. In the United States, same-sex marriage is legal, but there are still some fights and discussions that need to be had in order to end discrimination regarding the LGBTQ+ community.
Activists have been taking their stand, and last month, celebrities brought attention to this fight at the 71st Annual Emmy Awards. The main goal? To bring to light October 8’s Supreme Court cases regarding the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s Title VII, which could impact LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace.
Holding a rainbow clutch emblazoned with the words, “Oct. 8 Title VII Supreme Court,” Laverne Cox — LGBTQ+ advocate and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Emmy nominee for her work on “Orange is the New Black” — said this while on the red carpet: “It has implications for the LGBTQ community, but it has implications for women and anyone who doesn’t conform to someone else’s idea of how you should be a man or woman or both or neither.”
Her date for the night, as she said, was Chase Strangio, one of the attorneys with the ACLU, who is working on the case to speak more about the implications. “The administration is asking the Supreme Court to make it legal to fire workers just because they’re LGBTQ,” Chase explained.
In her acceptance speech for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, Patricia Arquette spoke about her late sister Alexis Arquette, a transgender actress known for her roles in “Pulp Fiction” and “Bride of Chucky.” Patricia’s speech also covered discrimination towards the transgender community, saying, “I’m in mourning every day … and I will be the rest of my life … until we change the world, so that trans people are not persecuted and give them jobs. They’re human beings … Get rid of this bias that we have everywhere.”
Oral arguments from the three cases brought to the supreme court — two about men who were fired for being gay and one about a trangender woman fired for being trans — were heard on Oct. 8, 2019 but the decisions on these cases won’t be published for a while.
Thank you for posting this piece. It’s important to shine a light on LGBTQ+ issues for the people outside of the umbrella, especially with actors who hold power and influence.