ANALYSIS: Bostock Battles May Cause Religious Ripples in States

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that federal law protects workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has set the stage for a fight over the balance between LGBTQ+ employee rights and employers’ religious liberty. The fight is likely to spill over to the states.

For the most part, Bostock v. Clayton County isn’t going to directly preempt or overrule state laws. States that have already prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity will continue to do so—some with even broader coverage and longer statutes of limitation than mandated under the federal law. And states ...