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Local LGBTQ community members celebrate Supreme Court ruling

When civil rights attorney Milo Primeaux read the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in favor of workplace protections for LGBTQ workers on Monday, he said he cried. 

Primeaux said this is a victory for the movement.

“This community has so historically and systematically been kicked down and oppressed by the government and by communities in so many myriad ways,” he said.

Primeaux’s practice focuses on LGBTQ legal matters. The ruling came days after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services revoked health care and health insurance protections for LGBTQ people.

Transgender activist Penny Sterling said that she found the move deeply troubling.

"President Trump is taking away from us this legal right to having our lives saved, having our health care taken care of,” Sterling said. “Especially during a pandemic, it just seems like the cruelty is the point here.

But Primeaux said the Supreme Court’s decision could weaken or upend the HHS's decision. He said while this is a major victory after decades of advocacy, there is more work to be done to achieve justice for all people in the LGBTQ community, especially people of color and those who are disabled.

Noelle E. C. Evans is WXXI's Murrow Award-winning Education reporter/producer.