US: LGBTQ community reacts to Supreme Court decision

Members of the LGBTQ  community in New York City called The Supreme Court ruling that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment "unambiguous" and "surprising."

" I think it was better than anything we could have expected," Brian Silva, Executive Director of the National Equality Action Team said.

"It was unambiguous. It was clear. It was to the point that LGBTQ Americans deserve to be treated in the workplace the same as everybody else and judged on their talents and their merit and what they contribute. And, you know, not on who they're married to and not on their gender identity or or anything else like that," Silva added.

It's a resounding victory for LGBT rights from a conservative court.

"I think the court's arguments went better than we expected. But the makeup of the  court, it was concerning. And so the fact that it was a six three decision with the majority opinion written by (Supreme Court Justice Neil) Gorsuch is just incredible," Reg Calcagno, Senior Director of Government Affairs at The LGBT Community Center in New york City said.

The court decided by a 6-3 vote Monday that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against gay and lesbian workers. The ruling also covers transgender people. The opinion was written by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch.

It's expected to have a big impact for the estimated 8.1 million LGBT workers across the country because most states don't protect them from workplace discrimination.