Two government agencies faced off Tuesday afternoon before a federal appeals court over whether federal civil rights law, as written, includes protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Zarda v. Altitude Express was argued in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, seated en banc –and made for some colorful exchanges between judges and attorneys representing the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, respectively, which are pitted against each other in arguing this case.

Zarda is one of a string of recent cases that confronts the issue of whether or not the protection against discrimination “on the basis of sex” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should be interpreted to include protection for sexual orientation. The issue may reach the U.S. Supreme Court in the near future.