Justices with the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that language in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people from work place discrimination. Rob Hill with the Human Rights Campaign says the court's ruling is consistent with lower court decisions.
"What they did was confirm what most Americans and actually for the last two decades what federal courts have already decided that LGBTQ people shouldn't be fired or discriminated against in the workplace because of who they are and who they love," said Hill.
Tiffany Mitchell of Flora is a transgender woman who is pleased with the high court's ruling. The 28-year old says she worked for a retail company about six years ago that stopped scheduling her for hours after she came out as transgender. Mitchell says she filed a lawsuit against the company, but it went out of business before the case was resolved. She says many in the LGBTQ community don't report work place discrimination.
"They're in fear. They don't know if I tell someone this is who I am or this is who I choose to be or who I may lay with how other people are going to perceive it. Because everyone is always nice to a person's face it's just about what may go on after," said Mitchell.
Mitchell says she couldn't find a job for two years. She now works with a non-profit and volunteers to help raise awareness about issues facing the LGBTQ community. The Human Rights Campaign says there's no state law that protects the LGBTQ community from work-place discrimination.
