Building Bridges: Queer Rights in and out of the Courts

It is unclear whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from differentiating between people based solely on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. This Note analyzes the Supreme Court’s tiers of scrutiny—rational basis review, intermediate scrutiny, and strict scrutiny—to argue that a new suspect class is warranted for sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), triggering strict scrutiny for SOGI classifications. This analysis shows that a united SOGI class meets all of the characteristics associated with suspect classes, including a history of anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination and the irrelevance between SOGI and one’s ability to contribute to society. This Note highlights the importance of uniting sexual orientation and gender identity into a single suspect class and presuming that any government actions on these bases are unconstitutional.