USA: Federal court rules gay rights are civil rights, discrimination is illegal
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act , which bans discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, also covers homosexuality. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit , which handles cases in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, decided 8-3 that discrimination on the basis of "sex" also means discrimination on the basis of " sexual orientation ." The ruling is significant because it recognizes special protections for LGBTQ status in existing law, making gay activists’ attempts to create LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws unnecessary. Progressives hailed the ruling. Vox called it "the biggest pro-gay rights legal decision since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality." Lambda Legal , which handled the case, said , “This decision is game-changer." "It’s the first federal appeals court decision to rule that anti-gay discrimination is banned ...