Flight Attendants and Queer Civil Rights
Flight Attendants and Queer Civil Rights
Chapter 4 examines how plaintiff Celio Diaz successfully used Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to reverse the airlines’ female-only hiring practices. Diaz’s legacy affirms that queer Americans were deeply invested in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, even if they were often unwelcome. The chapter traces the entanglements of male flight attendants with civil rights law from the dawn of Title VII to the final decision in Diaz v. Pan Am. In this light, I treat the Diaz case as an important precursor to future queer equality victories, as it limited social conservatives’ use of homophobia to block gender-based civil rights and prevent the inclusion of gays and lesbians in mainstream society.
Keywords: Title VII, 1964 Civil Rights Act, Bone Fide Occupational Qualification, Charles Goodell, sex discrimination, Celio Diaz Jr, Celio Diaz Jr v. Pan American Airways, Martha Griffiths, National Organization for Women, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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