In a decision issued July 16, 2015, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that claims of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals may be brought to the EEOC under the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from relying upon sex based considerations or taking gender into account when making employment decisions. While the decision came in the context of a Federal government employee complaint, the Commission notes that the language applicable to the private sector is essentially the same, suggesting it would apply the same logic.  The 3-2 decision, in apparent conflict with the rulings of many of the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, does not purport to create a separate class of individuals to be protected, but instead concludes that:

[S]exual orientation is inherently a “sex-based consideration,” and an allegation of discrimination based on sexual orientation is necessarily an allegation…