Paul sears

The Supreme Court ruled this morning that employers could not discriminate against lgbtq people, shocking me to almost speechless. I really didn’t expect this court to be in favor of anything that’s post 1950 Americano. Of course there were some judges that chose to deny gay Americans in 2020 the same benefits straight people wouldn’t even have to think twice about, but overall we won this one. In this crazy environment we are living through we have to take what we can.

Thats the whole thing isn’t it?, this crazy environment where up is down, wrong is right, and grifting is a part of the political landscape. That is how a certain supreme court judge got his seat isn’t it, not that anyone would be keeping track of such things. So naturally he was one of the nay votes, not to be outdone by the other two nay votes, he had to write his own dissent saying this should be left to lawmakers and not the courts.

He’s right though. The people we elect into these powerful roles in our government should make laws that protect all Americans, including gay and trans people. It’s also 2020, should we even be having a conversation about such a trivial thing, shouldn’t employment protections already be covered for all Americans, shouldn’t it just be a given that we can all love who we love and still be gainfully employed without fear?

I don’t want to downplay this moment because it is a landmark decision. One I think many Americans were not expecting, but a quick look outside your door, you see that injustice in this country is part of the fabric. It’s been woven into the conservative platform for 50 plus years. It’s so ingrained into the american landscape that giving basic employment protections to a certain community seems like a landmark.

If this was 1956 I would be walking on a cloud. But this is 2020, as a nation we should be so much further ahead than we are. Is progress really happening or are we just moving in circles? In the last 20 years I’ve worked at two companies who had lgbtq protections baked into their policy handbooks, one even offered same sex benefits way before marriage equality was a thing. I assumed all companies were so forward in their approach to obtain and keep qualified employees.

This is happening while the country slowly burns because the biggest injustice, the longest running injustice, continues to plague us. Racism is alive and it thrives in the open. Maybe not in our everyday conversations, but in the systems that have been built along the way to what America is today. I heard a black lady sum it up like playing monopoly, but every time you get ahead, they burn it all down and you have to start over. do that for 400 years.

We’ve got a long way to go to make this place inclusive for all people. Black people were brought here by force, by no choice of their own and they are still fighting. American foundations need to change. Let the change start from the bottom and trickle up, just replace trickle with a rocket. Enough is enough. This version of American only works for a few, they can’t hold back change. The days of false words and hope are over. We have seen it for too long. The time for change, real change is now.