76 Businesses Ask Supreme Court to Ban Discrimination Against Gay People

While the government may seem hell bent on throwing the LGBTQ community under a bus, corporate America is stepping up and speaking out in our defense. On Wednesday, a group of 76 business and two professional sports teams came together to petition the Supreme Court to make a decision on whether federal law bans workplace discrimination based on sexual preference.

Related | Trump Is Fighting For Sexuality-Based Discrimination In the Workplace

Companies that include American Airlines, Apple Computers, CBS and Starbucks Coffee, as well as the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team and Miami Heat basketball team are urging the Supreme Court to take a case that could reverse the Trump administration's homophobic policies. The case that these companies want taken to court involves a female security guard named Jameka Evans who quit her job as a security guard after being harassed for being gay and preferring to wear a men's uniform.

Though many states have laws protecting gay people from discrimination based on sexual orientation, there is no federal law. In their petition to the Supreme Court, the businesses wrote that these protections are better for everyone. "Businesses' first-hand experiences, supported by extensive social-science research, confirm the significant costs for employers and employees when sexual orientation discrimination is not forbidden by a uniform law," the brief says. "Even where other policies exist against such discrimination."