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31 Geo. Mason U. C.R. L.J. 217 (2020-2021)
Sex-Differentiated Appearance Standards Post-Bostock

handle is hein.journals/gmcvr31 and id is 225 raw text is: SEX-DIFFERENTIATED APPEARANCE STANDARDS POST-BOSTOCK Justin Blount* INTRODUCTION In June of 2020, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opin- ion in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia.1 This opinion was hailed as a landmark of Title VII employment discrimination law, as it held that discriminating against an employee because of their sexual orien- tation or status as a transgender person constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII.2 Much of the media and advocacy group focus on this opinion has understandably been on this ultimate conclusion, long sought by advocates for homosexual and transgender rights.3 What has been less focused on is the very simple, literal approach that Jus- tice Gorsuch, in writing for the majority, takes in interpreting Title VII. Although Gorsuch's statutory interpretation approach has been referred to as textualist,4 in his dissenting opinion Justice Kavanaugh refers to Gorsuch's interpretation of the statute as literalist, not textu- alist, and a departure from textualist interpretation principles which focuses on the ordinary meaning of words and phrases.5 * Justin Blount is an Associate Professor of Business Law in the Rusche College of Busi- ness at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. B.B.A. in Finance, South- western Oklahoma State University; J.D., Baylor Law School; M.B.A., The University of Texas at Austin. 1 Bostock v. Clayton Cty., 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020). 2 Id. at 1754 (we do not hesitate to recognize today a necessary consequence of that legis- lative choice: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.). 3 See, e.g., Press Release, Victory! Supreme Court ruling affirms legal protections for LGBTQ workers nationwide, GLBTQ LEGAL ADVOCATES AND DEFENDERS, (June 15, 2020), https://www.glad.org/post/victory-supreme-court-ruling-affirms-legal-protections-for-lgbtq-work- ers-nationwide/ (discussing how this ruling affirms critical legal protections for LGBTQ people across the country). 4 See Ezra Ishmael Young, Bostock is a Textualist Triumph, JuRIST LEGAL NEwS AND RESEARCH, June 25, 2020, https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/06/ezra-young-bostock-textu- alist-triumph/ (discussing the textualist nature of Gorsuch's majority opinion). 5 See Bostock, 140 S. Ct. at 1824-25 (Kavanaugh, J., dissenting) (noting how literal meaning and ordinary meaning are different concepts). 217

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