"Robin Shahar's job offer evaporated solely because she is a lesbian -- exactly the kind of situation the majority of Americans believe is unfair," said Winnie Stachelberg, political director of HRC, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization. "Shahar was offered job because she was qualified, and she should have been judged solely on that basis. This case points up the clear need for a federal law to protect Americans from job discrimination based on sexual orientation."

HRC renewed its call to Congress to pass in 1998 the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would protect Americans from job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Supreme Court said today it would not hear the case of Shahar, who had been offered a job in 1990 in the office of then-Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers. Shahar had worked as a clerk in the Georgia Department of Law that summer and was offered a job as a staff attorney when she graduated from law school. She accepted, and was to begin work in September 1991.

In July of that year, Shahar and her partner participated in a religious commitment ceremony to celebrate their union. A few weeks before the ceremony, Shahar received a letter from Bowers rescinding the job offer.

"As chief legal officer of this state, inaction on my part would constitute tacit approval of this purported marriage and jeopardize the proper functioning of this office," Bowers wrote.

Shahar sued. Last May, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Bowers, leading Shahar to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We are disappointed that the justices declined to hear this case," Stachelberg said. "However, we know that most Americans believe that job discrimination based on sexual orientation is wrong."

Last year, HRC commissioned a bipartisan poll that found 68 percent of Americans support passage of ENDA, and that 80 percent of the public believes gay people should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities.