#gay skydiving instructor

[apartmentsmoke]

Okay, new ask game! Top three dates you'd love to see Buck and Tommy go on 🥰

Sorry this has been in my inbox forever <3 1. Skydiving! Buck would love it, and would persuade Tommy into doing it. I think Tommy would be reticent - he flies the aircraft; he doesn't jump from them. He's even less enthusiastic when he learns that they have to take a 6-hour class beforehand, because Buck wants to do it solo and not with an instructor strapped to his back. Buck's able to persuade him, though, through the power of puppy dog eyes and blowjobs combined. While they're going up, Tommy is a little fidgety, and Buck teases him ("The man who flew through a cat five hurricane is afraid of a little jump?"). When it comes to the jump - which they do separately because the one thing Buck didn't do during his travels was become a licensed skydiver - Buck goes first and he gives Tommy a peck and a cheeky wave. And, well, Tommy's already promised himself that he'll follow where Evan goes, so he doesn't hesitate. When they've both landed, adrenaline narrowing their focus, Tommy pulls Buck towards him and they make out until the instructor clear her throat. 2. Baseball game - this time, it's Tommy that pulls from his mental fact database. I know that man lives on Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. He struggled with enjoying it one of the few good memories he had with his dad was watching games on the TV together, but he had an ex who got him back into it, and now he's a Dodgers fan. He's telling Buck all about Shohei Ohtani and how he is potentially the greatest baseball player to ever live. Buck is charmed. He's never been to a baseball game before but loves the idea of them, and immediately grabs crackerjack and peanuts because they're classic. Between innings, they end up on the kiss cam, and Buck leans in to kiss Tommy, happy and grinning and proud. 3. Clubbing - Buck never got his dance at the wedding, and he is going to dance with Tommy. It's not the same kind of dancing, but this is even better; he can hold Tommy as close as he wants and not worry about who might be watching them. Buck's been to a gay club before, but always an ally - "Thought you were still my ally, Evan?" - and not since he's started dating Tommy. Tommy isn't huge on clubbing, but he's got a couple favorite spots he goes to occasionally. The club's busy, and they're already touching, squished side-to-side, when they're getting drinks. Then it's out to the dance floor, and they spend hours out there (with a few trips to the bar in between), hands roaming, yelling into each other's ears to be heard over the music. By the time they leave they're both drunk and giggling, their ears ringing, and they tumble together from the Uber into Tommy's bed.

[butch-reidentified]

homosexuality wasn't federally protected from employment discrimination until June 2020 after a gay man was fired in Clayton County, GA (home of the world's busiest airport/Atlanta's biggest single employer) upon finding out he had joined a gay softball team & another gay man was fired from his job as a skydiving instructor in New York because he'd let his orientation slip to a customer in casual conversation.

and this is why i 1. never share my social media in professional settings and 2. only post on tumblr

[pure--melodrama]

The point of maximum danger is the point of minimum fear. It’s bliss.

[gaylittleinnkeepers]

random otp prompt aus !!!

for the aspiring author <3

- “hello i noticed you have a dog, i have a dog too, omg can our dogs be besties? also i might fall in love with you lol” au

- “i’m a superhero and you are a supervillain but you have the most ADORABLE reactions to my superpowers i really wanna squish your cheeks” au

- “was that your sandwich? im so sorry but omg it was so good do you mind teaching me how to make it 👉👈” au

- “hello my friend has a crush on your sibling but HOLY SHIT i didn’t know you were HOT” au

- “heyyy i made a bet with my sibling and now they think i’m dating someone, care to help me out?” au

- “you caught be doodling hearts in my book but you SMILED and drew matching ones in your own book and now we have a whole inside joke oh lordy please help me” au

- “you caught me reading fluffy gay fanfiction but you told me you liked this ship and now we‘re exchanging tumblrs/ao3s???” au

- “i’ve had a crush on you for SO LONG that i don’t remember what it’s like not loving you” au

- “if anyone beats you up pls call me so i can use the few karate skills i learnt watching cobra kai” au

- “our kpop biases are the most popular ship in the fandom, omg are we soulmates??” au

- “we have superpowers but every once in a while we switch for a day and you try to teach me how to use your powers but i am so HOPELESS also can you keep touching my arm? hehe” au

- “we’re best friends but i just found out you have abs, oh my god oh my god” au

- “i work at the counter of a rock climbing place and you’re one of the most frequent climbers and i may or may not watch you climb because it’s equally adorable and hot how fast you are” au

- “i like writing anonymous notes and leaving them in your locker but one day you caught me and you want to get to know me better because i write really well?? how do i do this” au

- “i’m a frequent patient at the hospital and you’re the nurse who’s always assigned to me, also i’m high on anaesthetic and you’re so pretty omg” au

- “my apartment is flooded do you mind if i stay in yours? also you’re so pretty wtf” au

- “you run a fruit stand and i run a bakery and you always come to my shop to give me fruit for my pastries but you always stay for really long?? is there any reason why??” au

- “i came to visit your house and found out your cat is named after me, oh dear” au

- “i am terrified shitless of heights but my friend dared me to do skydiving…but uhu you are a very hot skydiving instructor…do i get to be strapped to your chest?” au

- “you watched me trip over a stick in the park but you had really cute hello kitty bandaids that you stuck on my scraped knees” au

- “you accidentally proposed marriage to me the first time we met but now we’re friends? oh no” au

- “we make soulmate jokes about each other all the time but i’ve actually been in love with you for so long please love me back” au

please please maybe tag me if you do use any of these <3

[drysuitdivingdrone1950]

SOUNDS GAY

“Sounds gay!  I replied when my buddy suggested it. “I’m in!!”

Now, I cannot believe this was actually happening.  How did I ever get talked into doing this?  It all started out as just another one of those wild and crazy fantasies.  You know!  One of those off the wall ideas that are so far out there that you think it could never possibly happen.  Then I search social media and find out we are not the first to come up with this kinky idea.

Like what are the chances that my buddy actually is a skydive instructor.  Then take it up a couple notches and he want me to do it naked. How would you ever find a way or ever find a place that would let you dive naked.  Only to get blown away by meeting up with a whole group of guys who like to dive in the buff.

But here I am in my first session, getting initiated into the group during the ground training phase.

 “A good diver takes it like a man!”  My buddy the instructor pointed out as he grabbed my hair and started to plow away. He is just the first of the entire group who will be breaking me in.  It doesn’t take too long until my sore ass is leaking cum down my legs.

I pass all the ground training and I am set up with a date for my first tandem dive.  I will be going tandem with my good buddy who is also my instructor. 

I see my instructor all ‘HARNESSED AND HORNEY’.  There is something about strapping on that gear that just makes things harder.”  He indicates.  He is really up for this dive.  

I am beginning to have misgivings about all of this.  What have I gotten myself into?  About the time I am ready to chicken out of all this, he presents me with my helmet.

“I made this special for you!”  He indicates as he points out the words on the back of the helmet that quote me. “Sounds gay, I’m in!”   I just look into his eyes and smile.  I know I just have to do this.  

“Well maybe just this one time!” I indicate and he smiles back at me knowing that once will never be enough for a guy like me.

He helps get me all harnessed up.  It is surprising how hard I am also getting.   As we head toward the plane, I notice pre dripping from me.  

“Got ya all excited!” He yells out.  I just blush.

The plane roars and we lift off of the ground.  “Oh shit!” I think to myself, “What the fuck am I do this for?”  About then a gentle pat on my butt assures me that I am in good hands.

It isn’t long until the door is opened, and we are positioned by it.  As I look down out of the door of the plane, he grabs my head and pulls it back. “Remember to keep the arch!”  He shouts out over all the noise as he is shoving me out of the door of the plane.

“What the fuck am I doing!” I scream out as I am terrified and thrilled at the same time.  My fear subsides as his dick presses against my ass.  I focus on maintaining a good arch as he thrusts into me.  He releases all he’s got at the same time he releases the chute.  Sheer joy fills me as I look up and see the full canopy.  As I touch the ground, I cannot think of a more exciting time in my life.  I just have to do this again!!

They sign me up for more training.  I have to suit up for much of the training.  But finally, all of the training pays off and I am ready for my first solo. Eventually, I will get better at this, I will be able to reach my goal and solo naked.                                                                                            

Several weeks and many jumps later, that magic moment finally arrives. I am actually doing this.  As I wait my turn to go out the door, I recall that first trip out the door.  I could not have done this without the encouragement and the not so gentle push from my buddy.  “Wish me luck—here I go!”

[lostboysfound]

39. Taking a Leap

“‘Here we are,’ Gerald says every show.

“Oops. Sorry. The Hostess meant Rose? Roz?

“Here we are. Want me to leave? I’ll go.

“Y’all crazy. Lemme hear your applause!

“You’re welcome. This beer bust’s way too much.

“Fucked up queen. That bitch Roz left a mess.

“You’re welcome. This show deserves my touch.

“I’m joking. Cheer’s to Roz’s promise!”

Cheering the video up on the screen, the crowd watched a parachuting drag queen.

Harnessed to her skydiving instructor, Roz screamed at the camera, “Jump you fucker!”

Leaping from the plane, flying in the sky, landing, Roz said, “Jesus! I didn’t die.”

From backstage, Roz made her second landing posing in her parachute, grandstanding.

All the applause nearly scared her to death. Just standing there, she couldn’t catch her breath.

Sopping herself as she started to cry, “All this love, and I still can’t get a guy!”

“Fifty thousand dollars in donations. I fucking suck at negotiations!

“Promising to parachute out a plane, I promise I’ll never do that again!

“But a deal’s a deal. You faggots, you won! Skydiving’s over. Fundraising’s not done.

“Friends, lovers, brothers, sisters -- they need us. What we give, how we live, it’ll take guts.

“Families and neighbors -- we hear their silence. They’re afraid of more than just this virus.

“We sissies can end this fucking sickness. It just takes some more ridiculousness.”

-K.C. Sharpe

This is the thirty-ninth of forty lyrical passages from Lost Boys Found. Inspired by true stories, this historical fiction celebrates gay clubs in Middle America right before the AIDS crisis peaked in the 1990s.

39. Taking a Leap starts with The Hostess messing with the crowd before Roz's latest videotaped surprise celebrates what the audience achieved.

[yurimother]

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide if Federal Employment Law Allows Discrimination of Gay and Transgender People

On October 8, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear three cases about the rights of LGBTQ+ people and decide if Article VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They will determine if the federal government bars employment discrimination based on sexual preference or gender identity. LGBTQ+ rights advocates have watched the case closely. Swing vote Justice Kennedy - a defender of LGBTQ+ rights - has been replaced by the more conservative Kavanaugh, leading some LGBTQ advocates to worry about the possible outcomes.

Article VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against their employees based on “sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.” The three cases that the Supreme Court will rule on whether the “sex” part of the act can apply to prohibit LGBTQ discrimination. The Trump administration has taking the view that Article VII does not protect LGBTQ people. Lower courts have been split on the issue, and so the Supreme court will now hear the three cases (detailed below) to decide if employment discrimination against LGBTQ people is legal in the United States.

The first case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 18-107, concerts rights for transgender people against workplace discrimination. Aimee Stephens was fired from her job at a Michigan funeral home after she started to transition in 2013 and announced so to her coworkers and boss. Two weeks later, Thomas Rost, the funeral home’s owner, fired Stephens, citing her gender identity and wish to dress as a woman. This is 

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of Ms. Stephens, saying that discrimination against transgender people was barred by Title VII. Alliance Defending Freedom, the organization representing the funeral home, says that the court misinterpreted the law and replaced ‘sex’ with ‘gender identity,’ which they claim are two different things. The Supreme Court’s decision on this case will determine if Title VII protects transgender workers. This is the first civil rights case concerning transgender individuals that the Supreme Court has ever taken. 

The second case comes from New York, Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, No. 17-1623. Mr. Zarda, a skydiving instructor, said he was fired because he was gay. Following a complaint from a customer about his sexuality, he was let go. Zarda, who died in 2014, and his estate sued Altitude Express Inc. under Title VII. While the ruling original went against him, a Second Circuit ruled in his favor saying, “sexual orientation discrimination is motivated, at least in part, by sex and is thus a subset of sex discrimination,” which is prohibited under Title VII.

The third and final LGBTQ rights case is from Georgia and also concerns protections for gay people. The case of Bostock v. Clayton Country, Ga., No. 17-1618, was brought by a child welfare services coordinator who was fired for his sexuality. The 11th Circuit court ruled against him, saying that he was not protected under Title VII and could be discharged for homosexuality.

The first of these three cases will determine rights for Transgender people of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act and the latter two for gay people. These two issues will be ruled on separately. However, all three cases will have massive implications for how courts should interpret statutes regarding protections for groups not explicitly named in them.

While 21 states and the District of Columbia currently have their own laws protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in the workplace. The results of these cases will determine if such protections exist at the federal level.

[hteragram-x]

Sanders Sides Human AU

[Fair warning - this post is more like a stream of consciousness than a coherent set of ideas. I’m sorry...]

I was trying to think... what would be the most out of character set of jobs for the sides to have in Human AUs? Because there are normally three major options:

1) typical fandom arrangement, like barista, florist, or professor

2) all of them in one profession, e.g. sides as teachers or all working in one place (in one school, castle, hospital),

3) they have jobs inspired by the canon events and characteristics: Roman as an actor, Janus as a lawyer, Logan as a teacher, etc.

---

But what kind of jobs would be so unfitting that it would almost go against their very natures? I had a few ideas for potential AUs, so...

Remus as a nanny (or a babysitter). And a very good nanny, may I add. Kids absolutely adore him... parents not so much. He’s still very weird and looks daranged, but can be very gentle and thoughtfull. He’ll tell the most absurd and slightly scarry stories, make a mess playing with children, and is quite childish himself. But whenever parents want to change the nanny their kids start to protest and never like the new person that takes care of them after Remus. So he comes back despite parents’ different preferences. Seeing his attempts to teach other people better manners would be quite interesting.

Patton - the first werid instinct I had was: undertaker. This job has potentially some religious undertones so it may fit to a degree, so alternatively: coroner. Just something very much not cute and soft. A kind of job that would make people think that Patton lied about it for a joke when they ask where he works. They sometimes assume he makes the flower arrangements for the tombstones, but no. He buries people. Or checks what has killed them. Or both. He’s able to do it just fine, because he can easily take the emotionless, calm approach and not let the job drain him. Also he’s good at comforting the family of the deceised.

Virgil as... First I was thinking about something that requires a lot of bravery, but that would still fit his “fight or flight” nature. So nothing about being a soldier or a guard fits. There’s also a set of jobs that require some sort of reckless bravery... like skydiving instructor. Or scubadiver going to inspect very narrow caves. But I can also think about something that would directly contradict his “edginess”. Like the most boring, normal job you may think of. E.g. a very traditional job at the bank. So how about Virgil working with finances and sometimes skydiving during weekends. Then you mix the calm, not edgy job with something so potentially scary, that the embodiment of anxiety should not be involved.

Roman as... A boring job that goes against his extra-self would also fit. But maybe something that makes him stay out of the spotlight. Like an inspector checking very mundane things (if a bridge has a safe construction or if there are anough evacuation routes in buildings). Or something extremely complicated and professional that would require thorough and long education. I’ve recently has [THIS] idea about Roman being a scientist. And it fits, but I’m not sure if that’s enough. Maybe a taxi driver? You are largely anonymous, you are alone or with a person who don’t talk to you usually. That would be a nice addition if we want to combine all of them in one story, because he would get to know the others by driving them to work everyday. Ok. Roman as a taxi driver who annoys his clients by singing to all the songs on the radio. That’s decided.

Janus... I was thinking about a politician, because that would be a direct cooperation with the government and we can’t have that with Janus Classy We-Live-In-A-Society Sanders. That works, but being a politician also goes well with being manipulative, smooth, and with lying. So not a good option if we look for contrasts. If he were to have a job that doesn’t suit him it would be one that’s not very glamorous, silent, and probably not a profession where you need many qualifications. So a farmer maybe? He’d still have to know a lot, but being great at talking is not ecactly helpful when you just go around watering plants and collecting apples. (Although this farm, as much as he likes it, is probably some kind of cover up for a scam.)

Logan... Stand-up comedian. And specifically a one that makes a lot of jokes about himself. It’s still a Logan kind of thing, because he can talk a lot, but letting other people mock you is so not like him that I can let it slide. If he also dresses in very colourfull clothes it’s also a nice twist. When they all finally meet he can make a lot of jokes about a gay nanny, undertaker, accountant, taxi driver, farmer and comedian walking into a bar (all based on actual events). He may also, just like Virgil, have some additional job. I was thinking about something with graffiti, because you can combine artistic aspect, with a thing that is not taken seriously, and is often thought of as a destruction of property.

---

---

So yeah... We have a patient, delicate nanny/babysitter Remus, a calm and collected undertaker/coroner Patton dressed in all black, Virgil as an occasionally adventurous accountant with a white shirt and a tie, Roman as an anonymous taxi driver with worn out clothes, Janus as a farmer covered in dirt after a day of physical work, and a graffiti-making comedian Logan whose jokes are usually about himself... or about an eclective bunch of his friends from differents walks of life.

But outside of their career they are very much like themselves. Remus would laugh like a madman at the innuendos in cartoons he watches with kids, Patton would make puns about disecting a human body, Virgil would give seven thousands warnings about potential danger (no matter if he’s talking about opening an account or jumping from the plane), Roman would recite poetry to passenger trying to charm them while driving, Janus would win all the lawsuits despite being a serial tax-evader and use people’s stereotypical harmful thinking to make them believe he’s stupid, and Logan would make long jokes about climate change, proper sleep schedule etc. to sneakily teach people in the audience.

I’m really tempted to write a stoy about them now... Coming up with a plot explaining how they’ve met and stayed friends would be a nice challenge.

tl;dr - Giving the sides some unexpected jobs would be funny, so I propose a nanny (Remus), an undertaker (Patton), an accountant (Virgil), a taxi driver (Roman), a farmer (Janus), and a comedian (Logan).

[limbchq]

congratulations, danielle !! you have been accepted as panam palmer, harley quinn, dani clayton, carol danvers, natasha romanoff, john shepard, ben solo, ciri, kate bishop, nellie crain ( tristin mays, margot robbie, victoria pedretti, brie larson, scarlett johansson, sebastian stan, adam driver, imogen poots, hailee steinfeld, victoria pedretti fc ). please be sure to send your account in or post an intro if you’re a mumu blog within 24 hours and give the checklist a look. thank you so much for applying !!

Did you see PANAM PALMER from CYBERPUNK 2077 walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like TRISTIN MAYS, and is TWENTY-NINE years old. I’ve heard she can be LOYAL & DEDICATED but also REBELLIOUS & TEMPERAMENTAL. When I think of them I think of THE ALDECALDOS, COLD BEERS AMONG FRIENDS, AND LIFE ON THE ROAD. They’ve been here WITH their memories as an OWNER & MECHANIC at ALDECALDO REPAIRS for THREE YEARS. I heard they’re still trying to figure out how they ended up in Limbo. ( danielle, 25+, she/her, cst )

Did you see HARLEY QUINN from DC walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like MARGOT ROBBIE, and is THIRTY-ONE years old. I’ve heard she can be CLEVER & LOYAL but also UNSTABLE & IMPULSIVE. When I think of them I think of RED LIPSTICK, BUBBLEGUM, AND OVER-SIZED MALLETS. They’ve been here WITH their memories as an OWNER & TATTOO ARTIST at JOKER’S CHOICE for TWO YEARS. I heard they’re seeking a sanctum.

Did you see DANIELLE “DANI” CLAYTON from THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like VICTORIA PEDRETTI, and is TWENTY-SEVEN/FORTY years old. I’ve heard she can be COMPASSIONATE & SELFLESS but also EMOTIONAL & SELF-BLAMING. When I think of them I think of 80’S HAIR, GHOST STORIES, AND GAY PANIC. They’ve been here WITH their memories as a 4TH GRADE TEACHER at LIMBO CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL for SIX MONTHS. I heard they’re still trying to figure out how they ended up in Limbo.

Did you see CAROL DANVERS from MARVEL walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like BRIE LARSON, and is ~TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY years old. I’ve heard she can be WITTY & DETERMINED but also RECKLESS & PRIDEFUL. When I think of them I think of GLOWING FISTS, AN ORANGE ALIEN CAT, AND SPACE. They’ve been here WITH their memories as an INSTRUCTOR at THE UNIVERSAL DOJO for FOUR YEARS. I heard they’re seeking a sanctum.

Did you see NATASHA ROMANOFF from MARVEL walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like SCARLETT JOHANSSON, and is ~TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE years old. I’ve heard she can be LOYAL & INTELLIGENT but also ALOOF & ENIGMATIC. When I think of them I think of DUAL HANDGUNS, BLACK CATS, AND RED LIPSTICK. They’ve been here WITH their memories as an OWNER & DANCE TEACHER at ROMANOVA DANCE CO. for SEVEN MONTHS. I heard they’re still trying to figure out how they ended up in Limbo.

Did you see JOHN SHEPARD from MASS EFFECT walking around Limbo? The CISMALE looks like SEBASTIAN STAN, and is THIRTY-THREE years old. I’ve heard he can be COMPASSIONATE & SELFLESS but also RUTHLESS & CYNICAL. When I think of them I think of N7 ARMOR, THE FIRST HUMAN SPECTRE, AND SPACE. They’ve been here WITH their memories as an OWNER at THE CITADEL for TWO YEARS. I heard they’re still trying to figure out how they ended up in Limbo.

Did you see BEN SOLO from STAR WARS walking around Limbo? The CISMALE looks like ADAM DRIVER, and is THIRTY-ONE years old. I’ve heard he can be RESOLUTE & CLEVER but also TEMPERAMENTAL & SARCASTIC. When I think of them I think of KYLO REN, PROPHESIED FORCE DYADS, AND FAMILY LEGACIES. They’ve been here WITH their memories as a MECHANIC at LIMBO SKYDIVING for ONE YEAR. I heard they’re still trying to figure out how they ended up in Limbo.

Did you see CIRI from THE WITCHER walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like IMOGEN POOTS, and is TWENTY-FIVE years old. I’ve heard she can be ADAPTIVE & RESILIENT but also UNRULY & VENGEFUL. When I think of them I think of THE LION CUB OF CINTRA, A HEAVY CROWN, AND BLOODY ICE SKATES. They’ve been here WITH their memories as a HOMICIDE DETECTIVE at LIMBO CITY PD for EIGHT MONTHS. I heard they’re seeking a sanctum.

Did you see KATE BISHOP from MARVEL walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like HAILEE STEINFELD, and is TWENTY-THREE years old. I’ve heard she can be INDEPENDENT & QUICK-WITTED but also BLUNT & STUBBORN. When I think of them I think of ARROWS, THE COLOR PURPLE, AND THE COOLER HAWKEYE. They’ve been here WITH their memories as a PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR at BAKER STREET INVESTIGATIONS for TWO YEARS. I heard they’re still trying to figure out how they ended up in Limbo. 

Did you see ELEANOR “NELLIE” CRAIN from THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like VICTORIA PEDRETTI, and is THIRTY-TWO years old. I’ve heard she can be SELFLESS & EMPATHETIC but also WITHDRAWN & ANXIOUS. When I think of them I think of TWIN BONDS, CHILDHOOD TRAUMA, AND HILL HOUSE. They’ve been here WITH their memories as a BARTENDER at SEVEN DEVILS for SEVEN MONTHS. I heard they’re still trying to figure out how they ended up in Limbo.

[verycleverboy]

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status, a major victory for advocates of gay rights — and a surprising one from an increasingly conservative court.

In decisions on two separate cases, the court said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person's sex, among other factors, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status. It upheld rulings from lower courts that said discrimination based on those factors was a form of sex discrimination.

Across the nation, 21 states have their own laws prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Seven more provide that protection only to public employees. Those laws remain in force, but Monday's ruling means federal law now provides similar protection for LGBT employees in the rest of the country.[...]

The rulings were victories for Gerald Bostock, who was fired from a county job in Georgia after he joined a gay softball team, and the relatives of Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor who was fired after he told a female client not to worry about being strapped tightly to him during a jump, because he was "100 percent gay." Zarda died before the case reached the Supreme Court.

The Trump administration had urged the court to rule that Title VII does not cover cases like those, in a reversal from the position the government took during the Obama administration.

There’s still the question of what to do about all the rest of Trump’s anti-LGBTQ bullshit, but today was a good day.

[trans-advice]

APRIL 22, 2019 7:18 AM

AMAG Pharmaceuticals

Supreme Court to rule on workplace bias against gay and transgender employees

The Supreme Court on Monday set the stage for a landmark civil rights decision next year on whether gay, lesbian and transgender employees are protected nationwide from being fired or not hired under the federal law that bars sex discrimination in the workplace.

After weeks of internal debate, the high court agreed to confront the issue amid a growing consensus in much of the nation that such discrimination is unjustified and should be illegal.

The justices voted to hear three cases that came to conflicting results. In two cases — involving a gay man in New York and a transgender woman in Michigan — lower courts ruled in favor of the employees and found such bias violated the ban on discrimination “because of sex” in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In the third case, a gay man in Georgia had his discrimination suit tossed out. In doing so, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, quoted a 40-year-old precedent to hold that “discharge for homosexuality is not prohibited by Title VII,” the section of the federal law that covers employment.

The cases, to be heard in the fall, pose the most far-reaching civil rights dispute for the court since its ruling four years ago upholding same-sex marriages nationwide.

Then, by a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that the Constitution’s protection for individual liberty and equal treatment extended to same-sex couples and gave them an equal right to marry nationwide.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented, but fellow Republican-appointee Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined the court’s liberals to uphold gay marriage.

After Scalia’s death and Kennedy’s retirement, the court’s conservative majority has been joined by President Trump’s two appointees — Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh.

The four liberal justices who voted in favor of same-sex marriage will almost surely vote to outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender identity. But to prevail, they will need at least one of the court’s conservatives.

California and 20 other states expressly prohibit discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people in the workplace. But Congress has not adopted a similar provision in federal law.

Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced the Equality Act to extend such protections under federal law. That measure is expected to pass in the Democratic-controlled House but languish in the Republican-led Senate.

The Supreme Court’s ruling will probably be handed down next spring as the presidential election campaign is in full swing.

American Civil Liberties Union lawyers said most Americans wrongly assumed that discrimination against LGBTQ people in the workplace is already illegal. In the New York case, Don Zarda, a skydiving instructor, was fired after he casually told a customer he was gay. Aimee Stephens, who was born biologically male, was fired shortly after she informed the Michigan funeral home where she worked that she was transitioning to female.

“Most of America would be shocked if the Supreme Court said it was legal to fire Aimee because she is transgender or Don because he is gay,” said James Esseks, director of the ACLU’s LGBT Project. “Such a ruling would be disastrous, relegating LGBTQ people around the country to a second-class citizen status. The LGBTQ community has fought too long and too hard to go back now, and we are counting on the justices not to reverse that hard-won progress.”

Ironically, the legal argument to ban such workplace discrimination relies heavily on a principle and a court precedent set by Scalia, who said judges should interpret laws based on their actual wording, not on the intent of the lawmakers at the time.

The Civil Rights Act made it illegal for employers to discriminate against individuals because of their race, sex, religion or national origin. In 1998, Scalia spoke for the court in a ruling that allowed a male worker on an oil drilling platform to sue for sexual harassment by other male workers.

“Male-on-male sexual harassment in the workplace was assuredly not the principal evil Congress was concerned with,” Scalia wrote in Oncale vs. Sundowner Offshore Services. “But statutory prohibitions often go beyond the principal evil to cover reasonably comparable evils, and it is ultimately the provisions of our laws rather than the principal concerns of our legislators by which we are governed.”

Several appellate courts have cited that precedent in ruling that discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender identity is illegal sex discrimination under Title VII. In doing so, those judges agreed that Congress in 1964 did not intend to protect gay, lesbian or transgender people. Nonetheless, they said the words of the law make clear that the employees who were fired were victims of discrimination because of sex.

The Trump administration is likely to join on the side of the employers. In October, U.S. Solicitor Gen. Noel Francisco filed a brief in support of the funeral home that fired Stephens, the transgender woman. He described the “principal owner, Thomas Rost, as a Christian who sincerely believes that the Bible teaches that a person is an immutable God-given gift … and that he would be violating God’s commands if he were permit one of the funeral home’s funeral directors to deny their sex while acting as a representative of the organization.”

The Trump administration has adopted a similar legal view in support of the religious liberty rights of some businesses to refuse to participate in same-sex weddings.

Francisco said that when the 1964 act was adopted, the word “sex” meant biological sex. It did not apply to gender identity or to sexual orientation, he said.

He noted that until 2017, the federal appeals courts had steadily ruled that Title VII did not extend to discrimination based on sexual orientation. But not long after, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago and the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York adopted a new and broader view of the law.

“Legal doctrine evolves,” the 2nd Circuit Court ruled last year, siding with Zarda, the skydiving instructor. The judges noted that in 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the federal law, “held for the first time that sexual orientation is inherently a sex‐based consideration.”

The two cases on sexual orientation — Altitude Express vs. Zarda and Bostock vs. Clayton County — will be joined together and decided as one.

The case of the transgender employee — R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes vs. EEOC — will be decided separately.

[daydreaming-of-puppiess]

The Trump administration has filed a legal brief arguing that it is legal for employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

The Department of Justice filed an Supreme Court amicus brief on Friday (August 23), urging the justices to reject suggestions that federal discrimination laws protect gay people.

The court is set to consider the cases of Donald Zarda and Gerald Bostock, who were fired from their respective jobs as a skydiving instructor and a child welfare services coordinator because of their sexuality.

Lower courts have ruled that Zarda and Bostock are protected by Civil Rights Act provisions barring discrimination “on the basis of sex,” but the Trump administration is urging the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

Trump administration: Discrimination laws don’t stop employers firing people for being gay

The brief asserts: “[The] prohibition on discrimination because of sex does not bar discrimination because of sexual orientation. The ordinary meaning of ‘sex’ is biologically male or female; it does not include sexual orientation.”

It argues: “An employer who discriminates against employees in same-sex relationships thus does not violate Title VII [sex discrimination rules] as long as it treats men in same-sex relationships the same as women in same-sex relationships.”

The legal brief, authored by Trump’s solicitor general Noel Francisco, also notes that Congress has “declined to enact” bills to explicitly outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Equality Act, a comprehensive LGBT non-discrimination bill, was passed through the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in May, but the Senate’s Republican leadership have refused to put the bill to a vote.

Department of Justice also targets transgender discrimination protections

The Trump administration’s action comes on the heels of another amicus brief from the Department of Justice, which urges the Supreme Court to find that it is legal to fire people for being transgender.

That case concerns Aimee Stephens, who worked at Harris Funeral Homes in Michigan for seven years before getting sacked when she came out as transgender.

In a statement, GLAAD said: “This is the Trump Administration’s 124th attack on LGBTQ people since taking office.”

The three cases, Zarda, Bostock, and Harris Funeral Homes, will be heard together by the Supreme Court.

Although LGBT+ rights campaigners have previously claimed major victories at the Supreme Court on equal marriage, Donald Trump’s appointment of ultra-conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh has effectively eliminated consensus in favour of LGBT+ rights on the court.

______________________________________________________

[antoine-roquentin]

In R.G. & G.R. HARRIS FUNERAL HOMES v. EEOC and AIMEE STEPHENS, Aimee Stephens worked as a funeral director at R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes. When she informed the funeral home’s owner that she is transgender and planned to come to work as the woman she is, the business owner fired her, saying it would be "unacceptable" for her to appear and behave as a woman. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March 2018 that when the funeral home fired her for being transgender and departing from sex stereotypes, it violated Title VII, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in employment.

In ALTITUDE EXPRESS INC. v. ZARDA, Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor, was fired from his job because of his sexual orientation. A federal trial court rejected his discrimination claim, saying that the Civil Rights Act does not protect him from losing his job for being a gay man. In February 2018, the full Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that discrimination based on sexual orientation is a form of discrimination based on sex that is prohibited under Title VII. The court recognized that when a lesbian, gay, or bisexual person is treated differently because of discomfort or disapproval that they are attracted to people of the same sex, that’s discrimination based on sex.

In BOSTOCK v. CLAYTON COUNTY, Gerald Lynn Bostock was fired from his job as a county child welfare services coordinator when his employer learned he is gay. In May 2018, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reconsider a 1979 decision wrongly excluding sexual orientation discrimination from coverage under Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination, and denied his appeal.

liberals had planned to read employment anti-discrimination protections into title 7 in lieu of actually passing a law through the republican-dominated congress but given the current status of the supreme court, it’s looking reasonably likely we’ll see an explicit rejoinder that the civil rights act of 1964 should be read as conservatively as possible and a consequent firing spree of anybody even vaguely gender-non-conformative

[quakerjoe]

HUGE LGBTQ+ Issue Heads To SCOTUS

"Aimee Stephens never saw how her colleagues at work would react to her gender transition. The owner of the funeral home where she worked fired her first. Gerald Bostock claims everything was fine in his job as a social worker in Georgia until he joined a gay softball league. Then came the pink slip. For skydiving instructor Donald Zarda, the termination came after the routine way he joked with a woman when the two had been strapped together shoulder-to-shoulder and hip-to-hip for a tandem jump. Something along the lines of, “Don’t worry, I’m gay.” The three present the Supreme Court with a blockbuster question at the start of its new term: Is it legal to fire someone for being gay or transgender?"

[prideguy]

Does the Civil Rights Act Protect Sexual Orientation?

Does the Civil Rights Act Protect Sexual Orientation?

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The Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, an inveterate male chauvinist from Brooklyn named Emanuel Celler, was livid, warning that the language was “illogical, ill-timed, and improper,” that it would be an “entering wedge” to a constitutional Equal Rights Amendment (an idea he detested), and that it would lead, as indeed it eventually did, to the overturning of state laws…

[reading-writing-revolution]

The Trump administration Friday filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that gay workers are not protected by federal civil rights law. The filing came exactly one week after the administration argued the same for transgender workers.

The brief was submitted in combined cases concerning Gerald Bostock, a gay man fired from his job as a child welfare services worker by Clayton County, Georgia, and the late Donald Zarda, a gay man fired from his job as a skydiving instructor by New York company Altitude Express. The Bostock and Zarda cases are two of three cases concerning LGBTQ workers’ rights that the Supreme Court is expected to hear this fall.