In Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s four liberals, ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act’s proscription on discrimination “because of sex” applies also to gay and transgender people. This watershed decision has far-reaching implications for high school sports, employer-provided healthcare, religious liberty, and much more.

In arguing for Title VII’s surprise plain meaning, the majority cites Justice Antonin Scalia’s aphorism: “Statutory prohibitions often go beyond the principal evil to cover reasonably comparable evils, and it is ultimately the provisions of our laws rather than the principal concerns of our legislators by which we are governed.”