US court: gays protected from workplace discrimination

Gay rights advocates Wednesday hailed a first-of-its-kind federal appeals court ruling that employers cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation.The ruling Tuesday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago expanded the 1967 Civil Rights Act's protections against gender discrimination to include LGBT employees in the workplace.It conflicts with an Atlanta appellate court decision three weeks ago, which concluded that gay and lesbian workers are not protected by anti-discrimination laws.