TOLEDO, Ohio — The United States Supreme Court ruled Monday that LGBTQ individuals could not be discriminated against in the workplace.
One University of Toledo law professor says this decision, as well as the marriage decision 5 years ago, has led to a watershed moment for the LGBTQ community.
"The Supreme Court basically said that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects people from discrimination if the discrimination is based on their sexual orientation or gender identity," University of Toledo Clinical Professor of Law, Rob Salem, said.
As an attorney and member of the local LGBTQ Bar Council, Salem is no stranger to the issue of discrimination in the workplace.
"It's extremely common for me to receive phone calls from people who complain about being fired or not hired, not promoted or treated unfairly because of their gender identity or sexual orientation," Salem said.
These protections have been in place in Toledo since 1998 with an expansion of the non-discrimination policy in 2018, but if people lived in Toledo and worked in a city that doesn't have the same policies in place, it didn't matter.
Now those workplace protections are in place nationwide.
"It just means that all our efforts for fighting for equality pay off, but we still have a lot more work to do. I think people are slowly getting that at the end of the day, the LGBTQ community is human and deserve rights like everyone else," Executive Director of Equality Toledo, Sheena Barnes, said.
WTOL asked viewers what this decision meant personally.One viewer, Rick, said the last time he cried about a Supreme Court decision was in 2015 when he found out his marriage would be legal.
Sara, another viewer, says she's happy, but the country's got a long way to go; something Barnes agrees with.
"Making sure that our LGBTQ community, especially our trans community, get healthcare in the midst of COVID-19, that's a high marginalized group. We definitely want equal rights when it comes to our students and the school system," Barnes said.