I'm not sure it's necessary to get into sexual orientation to resolve this case. I mean, if Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry him and Tom can't. And the difference is based upon their different sex. Why isn't that a straightforward question of sexual discrimination?

—Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., oral argument in Obergefell v. Hodges, April 28, 2015

On October 8, two days into the U.S. Supreme Court's 2019 term, the justices will take up three cases from the 2nd, 6th and 11th Circuits that will have profound implications on employment nationwide. The court will hear arguments in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, Case No. 17-1618, and Altitude Express v. Zarda, Case No. 17-1623, appeals from the 11th and 2nd Circuits, respectively, on the question whether a sexual orientation discrimination claim is actionable as sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Then, in R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Aimee Stephens, Case No. 18-107, the court will consider an appeal from the 6th Circuit on the question whether a gender identity discrimination claim is actionable as sex discrimination under Title VII.