美國最高法院最新裁定：不能因爲性取向解僱員工

In a sweeping victory for LGBTQ civil rights, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an employer could not fire someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

LGBTQ羣體的民權運動大獲全勝，美國最高法院規定，僱主不能因爲員工的性取向或者性別認定而將其解僱。

The 6-3 decision has wide-reaching implications for gay, lesbian, and transgender employees in states where local laws do not specifically protect them. (One count last year found that 17 states had no protections at all for such workers.)

在有些州，當地法律沒有明確保護同性戀、女同性戀和變性員工，而這一6比3的裁決對這些羣體有着深遠影響。（去年經統計發現有17個州對此類員工沒有任何法律保護。）

This decision ruled that Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964—which already bans workplace discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics such as race and sex—should be applied to sexual orientation and gender identity as well.

這一決定規定，1964年裏程碑式的《民權法》第七章也適用於性取向和性別認定，這一章禁止種族和性別等受保護特徵在工作場所受歧視。

Here’s the opening paragraph from the majority opinion, written Justice Neil Gorsuch:

以下是大法官Neil Gorsuch寫下的主要想法的開頭段：

“Sometimes small gestures can have unexpected consequences. Major initiatives practically guarantee them. In our time, few pieces of federal legislation rank in significance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There, in Title VII, Congress outlawed discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”

“有時候小的行爲可能會產生意想不到的後果。重大舉措能爲它們提供切實保障。我們這個時代的聯邦立法中沒有幾條在重要性上能趕得上1964年的《民權法》，國會在該法案的第七章中禁止在工作場所產生基於種族、膚色、宗教、性別或國籍的歧視。現在我們必須要決定僱主是否可以僅僅因爲某位員工是同性戀或變性人就將其解僱。答案是明顯的。僱主因爲某位員工是同性戀或變性人就將其解僱，但如果有不同性別的人也有同樣的特徵或行爲就不會被解僱。性別是導致這一決定必要的不可掩飾的因素，這也正是法案第七章所禁止的。”