Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf
Page Number: 170.0

26 

BOSTOCK v. CLAYTON COUNTY 

KAVANAUGH, J., dissenting 

Furman v. Georgia, 408 U. S. 238, 467 (1972) (Rehnquist, 
J., dissenting). 
  I  have  the  greatest,  and  unyielding,  respect  for  my  col-
leagues  and  for  their  good  faith.    But  when  this  Court 
usurps the role of Congress, as it does today, the public un-
derstandably becomes confused about who the policymak-
ers really are in our system of separated powers, and inev-
itably  becomes  cynical  about  the  oft-repeated  aspiration 
that judges base their decisions on law rather than on per-
sonal preference.  The best way for judges to demonstrate 
that we are deciding cases based on the ordinary meaning 
of the law is to walk the walk, even in the hard cases when 
we might prefer a different policy outcome. 

* 

  * 

  * 
  In judicially rewriting Title VII, the Court today cashiers 
an ongoing legislative process, at a time when a new law to 
prohibit  sexual  orientation  discrimination  was  probably 
close at hand.  After all, even back in 2007—a veritable life-
time ago in American attitudes about sexual orientation—
the House voted 235 to 184 to prohibit sexual orientation 
discrimination in employment.  H. R. 3685, 110th Cong., 1st 
Sess.  In 2013, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a sim-
ilar bill, 64 to 32.  S. 815, 113th Cong., 1st Sess.  In 2019, 
the House voted 236 to 173 to amend Title VII to prohibit 
employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orienta-
tion.  H. R. 5, 116th Cong., 1st Sess.  It was therefore easy 
to envision a day, likely just in the next few years, when the 
House and Senate took historic votes on a bill that would 
prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation.  It was easy to picture a massive and celebra-
tory Presidential signing ceremony in the East Room or on 
the South Lawn. 
  It is true that meaningful legislative action takes time—
often too much time, especially in the unwieldy morass on