Aimee Stephens, SCOTUS Trans Plaintiff, Dies at 59
Key fi gure in pending gender identity, sexual orientation rulings remembered as a hero
BY MATT TRACY
Aimee Stephens, a trailblazer
who brought her
former employer to the
Supreme Court for fi ring
her because she was transgender,
died on May 12 at the age of
59.
Stephens had long suffered from
kidney disease and she was moved
into hospice care two weeks ago
— just as the Supreme Court was
preparing to issue decisions in her
landmark case and two related
lawsuits pertaining to whether
gender identity or sexual orientation
are protected classes under
the Title VII employment nondiscrimination
protections of the 1964
Civil Rights Act. Decisions in those
cases are expected soon and could
have serious implications extending
beyond employment.
“Thank you from the bottom of
our hearts for your kindness, generosity,
and keeping my best friend
and soulmate in your thoughts
and prayers,” Aimee’s wife, Donna
Stephens, said in a written statement.
“Aimee is an inspiration. She
has given so many people hope for
the future of equality for LGBTQ
people in our country, and she has
rewritten history. The outpouring
of love and support is our strength
and inspiration now.”
Stephens’ case centers on her
previous job as a funeral director
at the Detroit-based Harris Funeral
Homes, which has been represented
by the anti-LGBTQ legal
group Alliance Defending Freedom.
Stephens was fi red from that
job in 2013 when she informed the
company’s owner, Thomas Rost,
about her plans to transition.
Despite her death, the case remains
a live issue. The federal
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), which
shared her view that discrimination
on the basis of gender identity
is inherently sex discrimination,
prohibited under Title VII. And the
suit sought back pay and damages,
which would now be payable to
her estate.
Rost is a Christian who believes
William Moore, Donald Zarda’s surviving spouse, Donald’s sister Melissa Zarda, with Aimee Stephens
outside the Supreme Court on October 8, 2019.
that “the Bible teaches that a person’s
sex is an immutable Godgiven
gift” and claimed he would
be “violating God’s commands if he
were to permit one of the Funeral
Home’s funeral directors to deny
their sex while acting as a representative
of the organization.” He
also believed he would be violating
God’s commands if he were to
“permit one of the Funeral Home’s
male funeral directors to wear the
uniform for female funeral directors
while at work.”
The EOCC, which enforces Title
VII, sued the funeral homes under
the 1964 Act, but Rost expressed
his religious-driven opposition to
gender transition, arguing that the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act
(RFRA) protected him from liability.
Stephens was a co-plaintiff in
that case.
In a mixed ruling, the trial judge
ruled that although the fi ring violated
Title VII, but that the RFRA
shielded Harris Funeral Home
DONNA ACETO
from liability. The Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati
confi rmed the Title VII aspect of
that ruling but also concluded that
adhering to Title VII in this case
did not compromise the employer’s
free exercise of religion. The nondiscrimination
provisions in Title
VII, the court found, were of general
applicability and did not target
any specifi c religious practices or
beliefs.
Stephens was among those on
hand during arguments in the
cases last October at the Supreme
Court. She was widely respected
and hailed as an icon for LGBTQ
people, who looked up to her as a
symbol of hope for queer rights.
“Aimee did not set out to be a
hero and a trailblazer, but she is
one, and our country owes her a
debt of gratitude for her commitment
to justice for all people and
her dedication to our transgender
community,” Chase Strangio,
a member of Stephen’s legal team
OBITUARY
and deputy director for Trans Justice
with the American Civil Liberty
Union’s LGBT & HIV Project,
said in a written statement. “When
Aimee decided to fi ght back after
she was fi red for being transgender,
she just wanted it to be acknowledged
that what happened to her
was wrong. Being a part of Aimee’s
team at the Supreme Court has
been one of the proudest moments
of my life because of the amazing
person behind the case. As a member
of her legal team, I am deeply
sad for this loss. As a transgender
person and an advocate, I am fi lled
with both grief and rage that we
have lost an elder far too soon. As
we, and millions, carry her work
for justice forward, may she rest in
power and continue to guide us on
this path.”
The two related cases before the
Supreme Court center on the fi rings
of gay men who said they were
canned because of their sexual
orientation. In one of those two
cases, Gerald Lynn Bostock, a gay
man who worked in child welfare
services for the Clayton County
Juvenile Court System in Georgia,
said he was fi red due to his sexual
orientation. However, his claim
was dismissed by the trial court.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
also rejected his claim, pointing to
a 1979 circuit precedent that concluded
Title VII does not ban discrimination
on the basis of sexual
orientation.
In the third case before the Supreme
Court, a now-defunct skydiving
company, Altitude Express,
fi red Donald Zarda at least partly
due to his sexual orientation. His
claim was rejected by a federal trial
court in New York, pointing to
the precedents established by the
Second Circuit years before, but
the Court of Appeals overruled its
previous precedents and concluded
that Title VII does indeed pertain
to sexual orientation. Zarda
passed away due to a skydiving
accident, so his surviving spouse,
William Moore, and his sister, Melissa
Zara, have continued pushing
his case as co-executors of his
estate.
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