Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf
Page Number: 90.0

Cite as:  590 U. S. ____ (2020) 

53 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

that allowing employees to express their religious views on
these subjects may give rise to Title VII harassment claims.
  Constitutional claims.  Finally, despite the important dif-
ferences  between  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  and  Title 
VII, the Court’s decision may exert a gravitational pull in
constitutional cases.  Under our precedents, the Equal Pro-
tection Clause prohibits sex-based discrimination unless a 
“heightened”  standard  of  review  is  met.    Sessions  v.  Mo-
rales-Santana,  582  U. S.  ___,  ___  (2017)  (slip  op.,  at  8); 
United  States  v.  Virginia,  518  U. S.  515,  532–534  (1996). 
By equating discrimination because of sexual orientation or 
gender  identity  with  discrimination  because  of  sex,  the 
Court’s decision will be cited as a ground for subjecting all 
three forms of discrimination to the same exacting standard
of review. 

the  domain  of 

Under  this  logic,  today’s  decision  may  have  effects  that
federal  anti-
extend  well  beyond 
discrimination  statutes.  This  potential  is  illustrated  by 
pending and recent lower court cases in which transgender
individuals have challenged a variety of federal, state, and 
local laws and policies on constitutional grounds.  See, e.g., 
Complaint in Hecox, No. 1: 20–CV–00184 (state law prohib-
iting transgender students from competing in school sports 
in accordance with their gender identity); Second Amended
Complaint in Karnoski v. Trump, No. 2:17–cv–01297 (WD
Wash., July 31, 2019) (military’s ban on transgender mem-
bers); Kadel v. Folwell, ___ F. Supp. 3d ___, ___–___, 2020 
WL 1169271, *10–*11 (MDNC, Mar. 11, 2020) (state health 
plan’s  exclusion  of  coverage  for  sex  reassignment  proce-
dures); Complaint in Gore v. Lee, No. 3:19–cv–00328 (MD 
Tenn., Mar. 3, 2020) (change of gender on birth certificates);
Brief for Appellee in Grimm v. Gloucester Cty. School Bd., 
No.  19–1952  (CA4,  Nov.  18,  2019)  (transgender  student 
forced  to  use  gender  neutral  bathrooms  at  school);  Com-
plaint  in  Corbitt  v.  Taylor,  No. 2:18–cv–00091  (MD  Ala.,