Monday was a historic day at the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices made a definitive statement on whether LGBT workers can be fired on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Six Justices said any such firings would illegal under the law. 

The 33 page opinion made clear to the nation’s employers LGBT workers are protected by federal law.

"We fielded a survey in 2017 and this national representative survey indicated that one in four LGBT people had experienced discrimination in the year prior,” said Sharita Gruberg, of the Center for American Progress LGBTQ Research and Communications Project.

The decision came in a 6-3 ruling from the High Court — with Conservative Justice and Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch writing the majority opinion.

The court said Title Seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

“The answer is clear, an employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” Gorsuch wrote. “Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision — exactly what Title Seven forbids.”

“An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law,” Gorsuch wrote towards the end of the opinion.

“We have had numerous lower courts reaching that conclusion over the years and so now there is absolutely no doubt,” Gruberg said.

Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas dissented with the majority opinion, saying discrimination on the basis of sex versus sexual orientation or gender identity are two different matters.

This ruling corresponds to three separates cases that the High Court grouped together.

In each of them, an LGBT person said they were discriminated against and allege unlawful termination.

Monday morning’s decision now protects more than an estimated 8 million workers.

“Now this doesn't do everything,” said Gruberg. “We do have statutes that don't have sex discrimination prohibitions and so it’s still really important for Congress to pass the Equality Act and ensure LGBTQ Americans are protected in all areas of life."