The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Alphonso David on SCOTUS's LGBTQ Ruling

Episode Date: June 28, 2020

Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David reacts to the Supreme Court's landmark ruling that protects LGBTQ+ workers and reflects on the work that lies ahead. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Alfonso, welcome to the daily social distancing show. Thank you so much

for having me. This week saw a major ruling for LGBTQ plus advocates all over America who were petrified that the Supreme Court would rule that the Civil Rights Act did not protect them, you know, and and and this ruling came out and people really breathed a collective sigh of relief. As the president of the human rights campaign, what did this ruling mean for you and what do you think it meant for everybody out there? This ruling is so incredibly significant. Work is central to our lives.

There's so few of us who can afford not to work. And when we work, we're able to take care of ourselves. We're able to take care of our families. And to have the Supreme Court say that LGBTQ people are protected by federal civil rights laws is so significant because there are so many people that are fearful of coming out of work. They're fearful of telling their co-workers that they got married. They're fearful of just being themselves. So at its core, this decision provides a level of dignity to LGBTQ people. They have been fearful that the court would issue a different ruling, but we're really happy that the court stood on the side, the right side of history.

If we look at the ruling, though, a lot of people are worried that this now sets up a battle for people to try and claw back some of those oppressions of the LGBTQ community. Do you have any concerns about that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the the the the the their theate the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. theateate theate teate te tea tea tea t some of those oppressions of the LGBTQ community. Do you have any concerns about that? Do you think that they will now be a backlash? I don't. I don't. What I see this decision as is a reaffirmation of the rule of law. Here we had 20 years of court saying that LGBTQ people are indeed protected.

And the court recognized those cases and said we have to respect the rule of law, we have to respect stare decisis. And this is so important, particularly now, when we have someone in the White House who doesn't understand the rule of law. He doesn't understand steredecis. He doesn't understand providing dignity to marginalized communities. So I don't have that fear. I think the court honored the rule of law.

After this ruling, I mean, you know, whether it was religious leaders or just conservatives coming out saying, oh, well, this is an oppression of religious freedoms. Shouldn't a religious person be allowed to fire somebody from their job because they are gay or lesbian, or transtranstranstranstranstrans lesbian, or lesbian, or lesbian, or lesbian or trans or queer. And it seemed like it's setting America up for this conflict between your religious freedoms

versus the freedom to not be discriminated against. I think that's how they're framing it, but in fact, they already have that right. The religious groups and the individuals who are claiming this is going to result in the sky falling, only need to look at other states that have had non-discrimination laws on their books for decades. New York is one of them. New York has had a non-discrimination statute for LGBTQ people for a long time. Since 2002, with Sanda, and it was recently amended

to include gender. But the sky didn't fall. Religious institutions are still able to protect themselves. So the contention that you need to create a new to to to to to to to to to to to the the to the to the the to the the to the the to the the the the the the the to the the the the the the to the to to to to to to to the the the the the the the to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the new.ooooooooooooooooooooooooo. new. new. new. new. new. new. new. new. new. their new. their the fall. Religious institutions are still able to protect themselves. So the contention that you need to create a new provision or new laws is just hollow. It doesn't ring true. And I know what they're doing. They're seeking to expand religious liberties. The law already provides for religious protections, and we don't need to expand it. This felt like an invigorating win for so many people. But where does the fight go from here?

Is it over? Was this it? No, we are so far from being, reaching what I view as, how do we get to liberation? How do we get to a place where we're liberated as marginalized communities? My position is no marginalized community has achieved liberation in this country. And we have so many battles ahead of us. One is the Equality Act, is a piece of federal legislation that would provide protections to LGBTQ people in other facets of their lives. I'll give you one example, and many people are surprised at this.

But if I get into an Uber or into a lift tonight, there is no federal law that would protect me from discrimination, no statute that would protect me, the Equality Act provides that protection. The Equality Act, state law does. So if I live in New York, state law would protect me, but in most places, there is no federal protection that exists, and in some cases no state law protection. 29 states in this country, 29 do not have comprehensive protections for LGBT people. We also have to fight against violence for the transgender community. This year alone, we've lost at least 15 members of the transgender community. They've been killed. Last year 27. We have so much work to do, but I

don't want to detract from this ruling. It's fantastic. It provides us with meaningful protections, but we have a lot of work to do. People said, well if you, if you see from this ruling alone, if you work to create laws that protect black people's rights, because of where black people are in society, especially in America, those laws will protect and help so many other people that the law wasn't intended to help, do you think that this helps to bridge a gap? Because we've seen that even within the LGBTQ community, where, you know, some people have said, I'm black and I'm gay,

and I feel like these two will sometimes conflict because there isn't a camaraderie between them. Do you think this might be the bridge? This, I think this is one of the bridges. I agree, as we think about marginalized communities that are fighting to be treated equally, we're all driving in the same direction. We're all driving to make sure that we're respected under the Constitution. You know, when they say liberty and justice for all, when they talk about equal protection under the law, it's supposed to be equal.

Equal protection under the law. And unfortunately, we see that the application of the law is different, depending on whether or not I'm black, I'm transgender, I'm Latin X. So our goal is the same, getting to that place of equality, and I think for all, for far too long, our policies have been driven by fear. It's always driven by fear. Donald Trump is driving fear and division, as opposed to driving policies of inclusion. How is it that if you protect me from discrimination, you are threatened? th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that. that. that. that, that, the that, that, their, their, their, their, their, their their, their, their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their their their their their their their their their the. theat, theat, theat, theat, the the theat, the the the the the the the the the the How is it that if you protect me from discrimination, you are threatened?

How is it that if I'm able to work openly as an LGBTQ person, it compromises the work environment? It doesn't. And that's why I think my liberty, my quest for liberation, as a black man is intricately tied with my quest for liberation as a black man is intricately tied with my quest for liberation as a gay man. And I'm hopeful that more people see that. They see that as the LGBTQ community leaders.

We stand on the shoulders of Martin Luther King of Rosa Parks of so many people, Fannie Lou Haimer who fought and fought and fought to make sure that they were treated with the dignity that they deserve as black people. And they created constructs, they created foundations that we're not using to provide greater protections to LGBTQ people. Well, it's been an amazing week, and as you say, one of the most monumental rulings in American history especially for the LGBTQ community but for everybody who believes in a just and fair society so thank you so much for joining us on the show and I hope

you found a way to pop quarantine champagne to celebrate this moment in time. Tequila for me. Oh well there you have it. Alfonso thank you so thank you so much for joining us on the show. Thank you so today the daily to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the to the to the to the th. th. th. th. th. th. Al so much th. Al so much the the the the the the the the the. Al. the the. Al. Al f. Alf. Alf. Al f. Al f. Al f. Al. Al. Al so th. Al so th. Al so th. Al so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much so much th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the. A the. A the. A. A. A. A. A. thea. A. thea. thea. with Cover Noa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.

Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17.