The University of Connecticut celebrates and commends the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in which it affirmed protections for LGBTQ+ workers nationwide, ruling that federal law prohibits job discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender status.

Our celebration of this ruling is tempered by the disappointment that such rights were even under question, and that all members of the LGBTQ+ community nationwide were not afforded those protections long before this historic moment.

UConn is fully committed to ensuring that its employees, students, and affiliates receive full protection, respect and support to live their lives free of discrimination in the workplace, or anywhere. And to know that they are a vital and valued part of the University community.

The University is grateful and proud that Connecticut’s policymakers enacted such protections in state law nearly 30 years ago, making this state a pioneer in this area.

Yet before that action and in the generation since then, there had been no equivalent federal protections before now for UConn alumni, aspiring students, and others who lived in states where these rights had not been affirmed.

Today, we join LGBTQ+ individuals on our campuses and across the nation in celebrating this long overdue confirmation of their rights, and pledge to continue our work as a University to do all that is within our power to ensure access, dignity and opportunity for all on our campuses and in our community.