Transgender woman at centre of Supreme Court case dies just weeks before landmark ruling

The court will decide if federal civil rights law term 'on the basis of sex' also protects transgender people from job discrimination

Aimee Stephens, the transgender woman at the centre of a landmark civil rights case, has passed away from kidney disease before the Supreme Court could rule on whether she had been unlawfully fired.

Ms Stephens was fired by a Michigan funeral home after she no longer wanted to be recognised as a man.

The court will decide whether the federal civil rights law term “on the basis of sex” also protects transgender people from job discrimination. Some courts have read the language to include bias against LGBT+ people as a subset of sex discrimination.

More than half the states do not prohibit discrimination in employment because of gender identity or sexual orientation, despite the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that made same-sex marriage legal across the United States.

The court is expected to announce its ruling in late June.

Ms Stephens, appeared in a wheelchair when the court heard arguments in late 2019. Her death was announced by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented her in a lawsuit against RG and GR Harris Funeral Home.

“Aimee did not set out to be a hero and a trailblazer but she is one, and our country owes her a debt of gratitude for her commitment to justice for all people and her dedication to our transgender community,” said Chase Strangio, a member of Ms Stephens’ legal team.

Ms Stephens worked as an embalmer and funeral home director at Harris funeral home in Garden City, Michigan. She was fired in 2013 when she told her boss that she wanted to be known as Aimee, not Anthony, and would report to work wearing a conservative skirt suit or dress.

Her boss said that her appearance would be a distraction for grieving families.

“I felt what they did to me wasn’t right. In fact, it was downright wrong,” Ms Stephens told The Associated Press last year. “But I also realised it wasn’t just me, that there were others in the world facing the same tune.”

Her wife, Donna, thanked the public for “keeping my best friend and soulmate in your thoughts and prayers.”

With reporting from the Associated Press