In the March 16, 2021 issue of the Federal Register (86 FR 14363), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule to clarify that, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction, the prohibition against sex discrimination in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B, which implements ECOA, encompasses sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination, including discrimination based on actual or perceived nonconformity with sex-based or gender-based stereotypes and discrimination based on an applicant’s associations. This interpretive rule is effective on March 16, 2021.
The Bureau’s interpretation is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, 140 S.Ct. 1731 (2020) regarding sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in which the Court ruled that the prohibition against sex discrimination in Title VII encompasses sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination.