Bostock’s Paradox: Intersections in LGBTQ Employment Rights and Private, Religious Businesses

Authors

Christopher Smith, Brigham Young UniversityFollow

Keywords

LGBTQ Rights, Civil Rights Law, Religious Freedom Rights, Employment Law, Workplace Law, Title VII, Ministerial Exemption

Abstract

Thanks to the recent opinion of Bostock v. Clayton County by the United States Supreme Court regarding the protection of LGBTQ employees in the workplace, discussion has turned to how this protection relates to religious employers. Religious organizations such as churches and mosques are afforded protections thanks to an exemption found in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The role and scope of these protections in regards to private, religious (but not religion-owned) businesses has been debated as recently as 2014 in the Supreme Court. In this paper I address this issue and determine that, underneath current ruling thanks to Bostock v. Clayton County, that LGBTQ employees cannot be fired on the basis of their sexual identity while working at private, religious businesses.

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation

Smith, Christopher (2021) "Bostock’s Paradox: Intersections in LGBTQ Employment Rights and Private, Religious Businesses," Brigham Young University Prelaw Review: Vol. 35, Article 13.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byuplr/vol35/iss1/13