- Title: Suspicious package discovered at U.S. Supreme Court before hearing of LGBT case
- Date: 8th October 2019
- Summary: DEMONSTRATORS SINGING 'THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE' WHILE MARCHING AND CARRYING SIGNS DEMONSTRATORS' SINGS
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2019 14:54
- Keywords: Supreme Court suspicious package LGBTQ
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Sport,Wrestling
- Reuters ID: LVA002B08ML3B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday (October 8) wades into a major LGBT rights dispute over whether a landmark decades-old federal anti-discrimination law that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex covers gay and transgender workers.
The justices, a day after kicking off their new nine-month term, were set to hear two hours of arguments in three related cases. LGBT rights activists held a demonstration near the courthouse ahead of the scheduled start of the arguments at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT).
Before the proceedings, police moved demonstrators away from the plaza in front of the courthouse due to concern over "suspicious" packages.
The Supreme Court delivered an important gay rights decision in 2015 legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. Its dynamics on LGBT issues, however, changed following the 2018 retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who backed gay rights in major cases and wrote the same-sex marriage ruling.
At issue is whether gay and transgender people are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex as well as race, color, national origin and religion.
A couple of hundred demonstrators advocating for LGBT rights gathered a short distance from the white marble courthouse on an overcast day in the U.S. capital.
(Production: Kia Johnson) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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