Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) | January 6, 2021
Read the PublicationThe triumph of marriage equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) persons in Obergefell v Hodges (2015) was a transformational civil rights victory, along with the US Supreme Court’s subsequent ruling on employment discrimination in Bostock v Clayton County (2020). The Supreme Court decisions portended great changes for more inclusive family law and affordable access to health care. The National Academy of Sciences concluded that discrimination can powerfully harm the health and well-being of sexual and gender minority members. These harms are amplified by further marginalization by race/ethnicity, income insecurity, and atypical gender identity. Yet a new Supreme Court conservative majority may well claw back vital legal protections.