Final answer:
Title VII protects against employment discrimination for both men and women, not just women. It has expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity, establishing a framework for equal employment opportunity for all, irrespective of gender.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that Title VII protects only women from sex-based discrimination is false. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides protections against discrimination for both men and women. The act was originally intended to prohibit discrimination on several bases, including race, color, religion, and national origin, and the inclusion of sex as a protected category was initially seen as a strategy to hinder the bill’s passage. Despite this, Title VII passed and in doing so, ensured equal employment opportunities without regard to gender.
The impact of Title VII has evolved over time. Through equal employment opportunity laws and subsequent legal rulings, Title VII now also addresses discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Although there have been periods of backtracking, such as the 2017 Department of Justice’s shift away from protections for transgender people, the essence of Title VII is to provide a more equitable workplace for all genders, not exclusively women.
It is important to recognize that while the inequalities in employment opportunities have historically affected women more severely, Title VII’s protections apply universally, reflective of a society striving for inclusive work environments.