New exhibit features stories from Indiana's LGBT community

<p>A U.S. appeals court made a landmark ruling about a decades-old law that will likely have huge implications in the ongoing battle over gay rights.</p><p>The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers&nbsp;<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/05/522670604/lgbt-employees-protected-by-federal-law-appeals-court-rules" target="_blank">sexual orientation</a>, offering LGBTQ Americans protections they previously didn&#39;t have.</p><p>The law was passed amid the civil rights movement to outlaw discrimination, protecting racial, ethnic and religious minorities.</p><p>The case comes from an Indiana woman, Kimberly Hively, who says she was denied a job as a teacher because she&#39;s a lesbian.</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/lgbtq-groups-are-upset-the-2020-census-is-leaving-them-out/">LGBTQ Groups Are Upset The 2020 Census Is Leaving Them Out</a></b></p><p>That ruling goes head-to-head with a decision on a separate court case in Atlanta, which ruled the Civil Rights Act doesn&#39;t include sexual orientation.&nbsp;</p><p>The reason for the split decision could be that&nbsp;<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/299891" target="_blank">Title VII</a>&nbsp;of the law explicitly bars discrimination based on &quot;race, color, religion, sex or national origin.&quot; Lawyers were able to successfully argue that sexual orientation was included as part of sex discrimination in Chicago, but not in Atlanta.</p><p>This could set the stage for a Supreme Court battle over the ruling.</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/axon-offers-free-body-cams-to-police-officers/">What&#039;s Behind Axon&#039;s Free-For-All Police Body Cam Offer?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/ferguson-mayor-james-knowles-re-elected-for-third-term/">Ferguson&#039;s Mayor Re-Elected In First Race Since Michael Brown&#039;s Death</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/a-woman-s-job-the-blacksmith/">A Woman&#039;s Job: The Blacksmith</a></li></ul>