1. The US Supreme Court issued a ruling in a religious freedom vs. gay rights case.
Washington Post:
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal anti-discrimination laws protect gay and transgender employees, a major gay rights ruling written by one of the court’s most conservative justices.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the court’s liberals in the 6 to 3 ruling. They said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “because of sex,” includes LGBTQ employees.
The opinion in pdf here.
From the majority, authored by Gorscuch:
In Title VII, Congress adopted broad language making it illegal for an employer to rely on an employee’s sex when deciding to fire that employee. We do not hesitate to recognize today a necessary consequence of that legislative choice: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.
From the dissent authored by Alito, joined by Thomas:
The Court tries to convince readers that it is merely enforcing the terms of the statute, but that is preposterous. Even as understood today, the concept of discrimination because of “sex” is different from discrimination because of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.”
Conservative reactions on Twitter:
SCOTUS opinion is devastating for religious liberty. It just gave the spirit of the Equality Act in a legal opinion, rather than in statute. Gorsuch writing the opinion eviscerates the main rationale that religious conservatives have in voting for Trump. "But Gorsuch" is moot. -Andrew T. Walker
Thanks to two GOP appointees -- Roberts and Gorsuch -- churches and schools that discriminate against LGBTs stand at risk of losing tax-exempt status, per the Bob Jones ruling. Hard to overstate the magnitude of this loss for religious conservatives. -Rod Dreher
Douthat recently suggested that Trump would usher in a progressive backlash—going forward. Still, socons could at least boast of the lifetime judicial appointments their Faustian bargain garnered them. But what do they have to show for it? Tired of winning, yet? -Matt Lewis
2. Relatedly, on Friday, HHS overturned an Obama-era "transgender mandate" that interpreted "sex" to also mean gender identity.
Coverage at Politico or World.
HHS rule here.
Reaction from Becket, which was concerned about requiring doctors to perform gender transition surgeries against their religious beliefs, here.
3. "More Christians are saying black lives matter. But faith-based support for the police runs deep"
Across the country, support for the Black Lives Matter movement is surging, including in religious communities.
...
From a historical perspective, these statements and actions are somewhat remarkable, according to scholars who study the relationship between personal faith and policing. For much of the past century, many Christians ignored or refuted reports of racial disparities in police work.
