One of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies is in Erin Brockovich when Julia Roberts, in the role that won her the Oscar, asks the villainous PSE&G lawyers, “How much is your spleen worth? Take that number and multiply it by 100, anything less than that is a waste of our time.” BOOYAH!
Gerald Lynn Bostock got to live out his own real-life Erin Brockovich, sort of. In 2013 Bostock court child was working as a welfare services coordinator for Clayton County in Georgia. He decided to join a softball team. A gay softball team. And this is where our story takes a turn. Bostock was fired several months after joining the league and after being harassed about his sexual orientation by those in positions of power. (Aren’t people just great, I bet those same people are planning on voting for Herschel Walker tomorrow.)
The landmark ruling on Title VII comes after lawsuits from 3 people:
▪️ Aimee Stephens, fired after revealing she was trans
▪️ Donald Zarda, fired after revealing he was gay
▪️ Gerald Bostock, fired after joining gay softball leagueZarda and Stephens have since passed away. pic.twitter.com/0jz7kxCEwZ
— AJ+ (@ajplus) June 15, 2020
Related: Supreme Court issues ruling in favor of Catholic adoption agency
Bostock sued the county and last week a settlement amount was decided. According to US News,
“His case was one of three decided by the Supreme Court in June 2020 in a ruling that said a key part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII bars job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, November 4th Bostock commented, “I’m filled with joy and words can hardly express how happy I am that this is now over. As I said from the beginning, no one should go to work fearful of losing their job because of who they are, who they love or how they identify.” And that magic number that he settled for: $825,000. Atta boy, take that check and live your very best your very gay life! Thank you for standing up for yourself and for our community.
Also thankful to Gerald Bostock, whose case also became part of the suit. He was fired for joining a gay softball league, his medical insurance stripped from him as he battled cancer, but he survives to see today’s victory.
🖤🤎❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/yKVTZ2lpNr— Q. Allan Brocka (@allanbrocka) June 15, 2020
After joining an LGBTQ softball team, Gerald Bostock was fired from his job for being gay and he took his case to the Supreme Court.
Today, #SCOTUS ruled that LGBTQ people CANNOT be fired based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. 🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/YkFHLmQIPW
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 16, 2020
{**This post is solely the opinion of this contributing writer and may not reflect the opinion of other writers, staff, or owners of Instinct Magazine.”}
Sources: US News
I’m not sure how much money it would be worth but I do know that it’s wrong to fire someone because he’s gay.