The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Monday that federal civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers triggered approval among Columbus representatives of those in the LGBTQ community.
But those same representatives remain concerned about President Donald Trump’s move on Friday finalizing a rule that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. Both rulings come amid the current LGBTQ Pride Month.
LGBTQ issues locally and the people supporting them have become much more visible since the Columbus Pride Festival began in 2018 in downtown Columbus. The event attracted an estimated 2,000 people in 2018 and an estimated 3,500 last year.
Jill Tasker, a leading member of the currently dormant Columbus Pride Alliance organization, said she was somewhat surprised by the Supreme Court decision, given the conservative makeup of the court. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion. He and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberal members of the court for the 6-3 decision, the The Associated Press reported.
“I can say personally that I’m thrilled,” Tasker said. “I’m thrilled that (Chief Justice John) Roberts and Gorsuch did the right thing according to the law.”
Sarah Franklin, public relations coordinator for the Columbus Pride Festival, said the court decision created “one very good thing in my newsfeed for once.”
On the other hand, Franklin was so concerned about the Trump administration’s decision on health care for transgender people that she called in her disapproval to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office on Friday. Governors such as Andrew Cuomo of New York have reacted strongly to Trump’s decision, saying “that discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation is illegal.”
The Department of Health and Human Services said it will enforce sex discrimination protections “according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology,” and not by elements such as gender identification.
Sondra Bolte, a member of the planning committee for the Columbus Pride Festival and a supporter of LGBTQ rights for years, called the Supreme Court decision “huge, because in a place like Indiana, you could get married (as a same-sex couple) on a Saturday, and fired (for being gay) on Monday. So, for this to be a national ruling, I just can’t tell you how happy I am.”
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For more on the ruling, see Page A3.
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