The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in a sex discrimination case involving a Michigan funeral home.
Aimee Stephens was a funeral director at R.G and G.R Harris Funeral Homes. The company has three locations in Michigan. Stephens says she was fired when she told the owners she was transitioning from male to female and would begin to wear women’s clothing. The Court of Appeals ruled that the funeral home’s firing of Stephens was unlawful sex discrimination under federal law.
The funeral home appealed to the US Supreme Court. Jim Campbell is an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom – that’s a conservative law firm that represents the funeral home. He said the courts can’t rewrite federal law to have “sex” mean “gender identity.”
“We’re hopeful that the court will correct that mistake and will make it clear that changes like this must only come through Congress,” he said.
The makeup of the court has changed dramatically since the same court legalized same sex marriage. President Donald Trump recently appointed two new, conservative judges.
Jay Kaplan is an attorney with the ACLU of Michigan – the organization has filed briefs in the case. He said they are concerned about the makeup of the court. But Kaplan continued, “I think if the court decides that firing LGBT people is legal, I think that would shock most of America.”
The case will be decided along with two other cases where LGBTQ people say they were fired due to their sexual orientation. The court will hear arguments in the fall.