A Policy Protecting Transgender Workers From Discrimination Was Just Reversed by Jeff Sessions ~ health and fitness,celebrity news,fashion blog,beauty women,whole foods,quotes about love

jeudi 5 octobre 2017

A Policy Protecting Transgender Workers From Discrimination Was Just Reversed by Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed a major Obama-era policy change on Oct. 5, one that extended the Civil Rights Act to protect transgender employees from discrimination in the workplace. Sessions, who has a well-documented history of racism, has spent much of his tenure at the DOJ attempting to erase any and all progressive policy that would make for a more equitable set of civil rights in America.

The directive was obtained by BuzzFeed News and explicitly addresses Title VII, the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that deals with discrimination on the basis of an individual's sex. "Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination between men and women," the memo reads, "but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status."

Former Attorney General Eric Holder initially amended Title VII in 2014, issuing a memo to all Department of Justice employees and US attorneys that put forth a more nuanced interpretation of the half-century-old law. " . . . the department will no longer assert that Title VII's prohibition against discrimination based on sex excludes discrimination based on gender identity per se including transgender discrimination, reversing a previous Department of Justice position," a press release sent by Obama's DOJ reads, adding, "Title VII makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate in the employment of an individual 'because of such individual's . . . sex,' among other protected characteristics."

Sessions, however, asserts that it's on the Justice Department – not any previous guidance – to interpret the law "as written by congress" and therefore the administration has no responsibility to enforce protections on a nuance such as gender identity. In a statement given to The Hill, the ACLU slammed the decision to rescind such basic civil rights in yet another hostile move toward the LGBTQ+ community.

"Today marks another low point for a Department of Justice, which has been cruelly consistent in its hostility towards the LGBT community and in particular its inability to treat transgender people with basic dignity and respect," the statement said. "Discrimination against transgender people is sex discrimination, just as DOJ recognized years ago. We are confident that the courts will continue to agree and will reject the politically driven decision by Attorney General Sessions."

jeudi 5 octobre 2017