As I noted a few months ago, every federal courts of appeals that has addressed the question—seven in total—has ruled that Title VII’s bar on sex discrimination in employment does not encompass a bar on sexual-orientation discrimination. Those courts include the Ninth Circuit, whose rulings bind the federal district courts in California (and in eight other states). But that didn’t stop federal district judge Dean D. Pregerson of the Central District of California from ruling last week that Title IX’s bar on sex discrimination is a bar on sexual-orientation discrimination. (See pp. 12-15, 17-18.)

The case before Pregerson involved Title IX, not Title VII. But Pregerson didn’t suggest that there was any reason to read those statutes differently. On the contrary, he invoked Ninth Circuit precedent holding that the legislative history of Title IX “strongly suggests that Congress meant for similar substantive standards” to apply under the two statutes, and he affirmatively relied on the EEOC’s recent Title VII ruling that contradicts the uniform federal appellate rulings.

If the name Pregerson rings a bell, that may be because Dean Pregerson is the son of Harry Pregerson, who for more than 35 years has wreaked his lawlessness on the Ninth Circuit. Pregerson, who finally took senior status at age 92 just eleven days ago, would be much more notorious if he had not been overshadowed by his much more bombastic colleague, Stephen Reinhardt.