Issues are hardly over
With the U.S. Supreme Court decision, in Bostock v. Clayton County, the issue of the class sex including sexual orientation and gender identity, in federal civil rights laws, is hardly over ["Landmark victory: Historic Supreme Court decision protects LGBT workers," June 18]. Next up is the inevitable court challenge that sex, under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 ("sex" was added in 1974) includes sexual orientation and gender identity, based upon the reasoning used in the Bostock decision. Intellectual honesty and consistency would require it.
Washington state has an Equal Rights Amendment, in its Constitution, making sex a suspect class, and so do other states. Expect lawsuits to argue the reasoning in Bostock should be applied to state ERAs. That sexual orientation and gender identity should be protected under the class of sex.
Finally, in 1976, in the Supreme Court decision, Craig v. Boren, it was declared that sex was a quasi-suspect class, requiring an intermediate level of scrutiny. The Supreme Court will inevitably be confronted with a case where plaintiffs argue the reasoning of Bostock should be applied to Craig, which would make sexual orientation and gender identity also quasi-suspect classes.
Steven L. Kendall
Seattle, Washington
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