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 differences between the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VII, the Court’s decision may exert a gravitational pull in constitutional cases. Under our precedents, the Equal Protection Clause prohibits sex-based discrimination unless a “heightened” standard of review is met. Sessions v. Morales-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.
Under this logic, today’s decision may have effects that extend well beyond the domain of federal anti-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 prohibiting 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 members); 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 procedures); 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); Complaint in Corbitt v. Taylor, No. 2:18–cv–00091 (MD Ala.,
