Federal Appeals Court Rules Inability To Have Sex Is Protected Under Americans With Disabilities Act

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a 2-1 decision on Friday ruled for the first time that laws that protect people with disabilities from discrimination should include "sexual relations," McClatchy/Houston Chronicle reports. The 1973 Rehabilitation Act, also known as the Americans With Disabilities Act, bars discrimination against people living with an impairment that "substantially limits" a "major" life activity. According to McClatchy/Chronicle, courts struggle to explain what constitutes a major life activity, and Friday's ruling "cracks open the courtroom door for additional legal challenges by those who are sexually incapacitated." The case involved Kathy Adams, a breast cancer survivor from South Carolina. Adams ranked seventh out of 200 candidates who took the State Department's Foreign... [read full story]