Section 7

Citation: Section 7
Parent Document: Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2020-06-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4760997/bostock-v-clayton-county/ ↗

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(or credentials) for immorality, moral turpitude, or unpro-
fessionalism,” and, the survey added, “[h]omosexuality is
considered to fall within all three categories.”25
   The situation in California is illustrative. California laws
prohibited individuals who engaged in “immoral conduct”
(which was construed to include homosexual behavior), as
well as those convicted of “sex offenses” (like sodomy), from
employment as teachers. Cal. Educ. Code Ann. §§13202,
13207, 13209, 13218, 13255 (West 1960). The teaching cer-
tificates of individuals convicted of engaging in homosexual
acts were revoked. See, e.g., Sarac v. State Bd. of Ed., 249
Cal. App. 2d 58, 62–64, 57 Cal. Rptr. 69, 72–73 (1967) (up-
holding revocation of secondary teaching credential from
teacher who was convicted of engaging in homosexual con-
duct on public beach), overruled in part, Morrison v. State
Bd. of Ed., 1 Cal. 3d 214, 461 P. 2d 375 (1969).
   In Florida, the legislature enacted laws authorizing the
revocation of teaching certificates for “misconduct involving
moral turpitude,” Fla. Stat. Ann. §229.08(16) (1961), and
this law was used to target homosexual conduct. In 1964,
a legislative committee was wrapping up a 6-year campaign
to remove homosexual teachers from public schools and
state universities. As a result of these efforts, the state
board of education apparently revoked at least 71 teachers’
certificates and removed at least 14 university professors.
Eskridge, Dishonorable Passions, at 103.
   Individuals who engaged in homosexual acts also faced
the loss of other occupational licenses, such as those needed
to work as a “lawyer, doctor, mortician, [or] beautician.”26
See, e.g., Florida Bar v. Kay, 232 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 1970) (at-
torney disbarred after conviction for homosexual conduct in
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  25 Rivera, Our Straight-Laced Judges: The Legal Position of Homosex-

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