AFT President Randi Weingarten on Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County

WASHINGTON—Statement of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten as the Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments in the Bostock v. Clayton County case:

“In the face of an administration that has relentlessly sowed hate, fear and division, America finds itself at a crossroads. Will we succumb to bigotry and cruelty, or will we choose to value diversity, tolerance, human dignity and equal rights? 

“Today, as the court hears the first arguments in Bostock v. Clayton County, it considers whether or not LGBTQ people are protected from discrimination at work, and if they can be fired simply for who they are and who they love. It is a moment that tests our democracy’s allegiance to equality and whether we will uphold that constitutional commitment, or succumb to the abridgment of human rights in the shadow of President’s Trump’s ideological stacking of the Supreme Court.

“As the first union to publicly support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, the AFT’s educators, healthcare professionals and public employees have fought for and cheered the civil rights victories over time that have enabled marriage equality, first based on race and then on sexuality, as well as many of the other protections now enshrined in law.

“We continue to stand against injustice and are proud that we have filed an amicus brief with the court in support of workers’ rights. We hope the Supreme Court, no matter how divided it was during the argument, honors our country’s commitment to all people’s freedoms and rights, regardless of sexuality.”