Jillian Weiss
Groundbreaking Study Finds Pervasive Discrimination Against Transgender People
Groundbreaking Study Finds Pervasive Discrimination Against Transgender People: “The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) today released a comprehensive new report, “Injustice at Every Turn,” revealing the depth of discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people in a wide range of areas, including education, health care, employment, and housing. The study, based on the results from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS), was based on responses from over 6,450 participants. The NTDS is the first large-scale national study of discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming Americans, and paints a more complete picture than any prior research to date.”
The findings are not a surprise to anyone working in this field. Studies like this are, however, very useful in understanding the pervasiveness and depth of discrimination out there. The study is definitely worth a thorough read.
HRC to Train Trans Job Seekers in Boston
Bay Windows – New England’s largest GLBT newspaper: “The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced Jan. 18 that the LGBT rights organization will sponsor a training program for transgender job-seekers in Boston next month.
The free inaugural event of HRC’s Back to Work project will take place on Feb. 26 and 27. Attendees will be provided with essential skills needed to make the most of the job market, and find a career that matches their expertise and experience. The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth (BAGLY), the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts (AAC), and MassEquality are cosponsors of the event, which will be hosted by the AAC.”
Although some in the trans community have been critical of HRC, not without some justice, the organization has take some important steps that have helped transgender employment rights, particularly the Corporate Equality Index. It is nice to see that the organization is continuing to take action to assist the T portion of the LGBT community.
Panel rules against Orono school in transgender bathroom access – Bangor Daily News
Panel rules against Orono school in transgender bathroom access – Bangor Daily News: “The Maine Human Rights Commission ruled Monday that Orono Middle School unlawfully discriminated against a sixth-grader during the 2008-2009 school year by not letting the male-to-female transgender student use the girls’ bathroom.
This is the same student whose parents filed a similar discrimination complaint against Asa Adams Elementary School in Orono when their child was a fifth grader there during the 2007-2008 school year. That case resulted in the same ruling against the school district in June 2009.
Also Monday, the commission members again began talks about developing anti-discrimination guidelines specifically for schools under the Maine Human Rights Act.”
Transgender Law Institute at Lavender Law
We held our first Transgender Law Institute at the National LGBT Bar Association’s Lavender Law Conference last Thursday.
We had about 75 people in attendance, from all over the country. It was an amazing gathering of talent, and I felt honored to chair the conference committee.
The Committee itself was amazing – Prof. Jennifer Levi of GLAD, Prof. Julie Greenberg of Thomas Jefferson Law School, Seth Marnin of Outten & Golden, Dru Levasseur of Lambda Legal, and Matt Wood of the Transgender Law Center. If you don’t know who these people are, they’re well worth looking up. They’re committed lawyers and scholars who have each contributed a tremendous amount to trans legal issues.
Here’s the agenda for the Transgender Law Institute along with the hypotheticals we used, and a list of resources available for download.
Some of these hypotheticals were quite interesting, and I think everyone learned a lot about how to protect the rights of trans clients. Here’s one example, that I presented with the wonderful Denise Brogan-Kator of the Rainbow Law Center in Michigan:
A Transgender Spiritual Retreat
I’m off for a few days of renewal and self-reflection to Hot Springs, North Carolina.
It’s been an incredibly busy summer, not the quiet one I hoped for.
Kindred Spirits is “a global network based in the Southern Appalachians near Asheville, North Carolina since 1993.” They put on a spiritual retreat every year where people get together to think about and be in the presence of the “spirit of transgender.”
A friend told me about it, and it sounded awesome. So we’re driving down together.
“Each of our four days together, we share in daily sacred circles. Our Laurel River hike culminates in a ritual swim-frolic. Special teaching sessions will be offered by some of our veteran attendees, often including various intuitive and shamanic sorts of work. Our ceremonies climax on an ancient Cherokee bald mountaintop with a 360-degree vista. This retreat can be a life-changing experience for you, connecting with your trans-spiritual family, as well as launching you further along your own spiritual path. You are encouraged to bring your own unique visions and expertise to share within this powerful gathering of your own kindred spirits.”
“When I Was A Little Boy, I Prayed To God”
Several years ago, my synagogue asked me to write something about being transgender and Jewish.
I grew up very, very devoutly religious, and I felt terrible about my feelings inside. It hurt me every day. Can you see it in that little face?
The piece has been published in our prayer book, Siddur B’chol L’vav’cha (which means “With All Your Heart,” a reference to the injunction in Deuteronomy 6:5 to love God with all your heart).
I thought you might find it interesting.
Growing up very religious, and believing very deeply, I thought a lot about God.
This prayer is about how I felt about being trans, and my relationship with God, as a young person in my pre-teen and early teen years, and how that resolved as I grew older.
Glenn v. Brumby: Judge Story Makes Hamburger Out Of Perfectly Good Steak
The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ: As I discussed previously, the Glenn v. Brumby lawsuit is premised on the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment (No state shall deny to any person the equal protection of the laws), rather than the federal civil rights statute.
This brilliant legal maneuver was permissible because Ms. Glenn worked for the state government. In ruling for Ms. Glenn on her first claim, but against her on her second claim, Judge Story said that their reasons for firing Ms. Glenn were not legit, but then he said they could be legit and they were legit on her second claim. He ground up perfectly good steak and made it into hamburger. So I like him for what he did for Ms. Glenn, but I don’t like the reasoning he used.
Maine Court Favorable Ruling on Trans Bathroom Use
On May 27, the Maine Superior Court, Androscoggin County, ruled on a case involving a claim of unlawful public accommodation discrimination by a transgender person.dennys-breakfast.jpg
In this case, the public accommodation involved was the bathroom of a Denny’s restaurant in Auburn, Maine.
In Freeman v. Realty Resources Hospitality, LLC, d/b/a Denny’s of Auburn, No. CV 09-199, the Maine Superior Court held, in a fairly simple decision, that, if it were true that the manager prohibited the plaintiff from using the women’s bathroom based on her gender identity, then that would be a violation of the Maine Human Rights Act.
It is, as far as I know, the first judicial decision in the U.S. on a claim of transgender public accommodation discrimination involving bathroom use. In the two previous bathroom use cases, one involved an employment discrimination claim based on bathroom rules, and the other involved a rental discrimination claim based on bathroom rules. I think the difference may be important, for those two cases denied the discrimination claims based on truly illogical reasoning.
Ask a Manager: is my transgendered coworker using the right bathroom?
Alison Green writes the “Ask a Manager” workplace advice column, both on her personal blog and weekly for U.S. News & World Report’s Web site. She is also the co-author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader’s Guide to Getting Results.
This week, she addresses a reader question: is my transgendered coworker using the right bathroom?
A reader writes:
I have a question of how/if/when transgendered coworkers get to be treated as such in the workplace. Specifically, there is a man in our office (widely known as such) who wears women’s clothing, hairstyles, shoes, makeup, etc. every day, and refers to himself as ‘she’. Some women in the office have been claiming that his use of the women’s restroom constitutes sexual harrassment. Employees of both sexes have claimed that if he is male, he’s violating company conduct and dress codes by wearing women’s clothing to work.”
The DSM Diagnosis and The Workplace
My question was in the New York Times today, answered by Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, who is working on “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves,” a resource guide for transgender and other gender-variant people:
Q: As a professor of law, specializing in workplace law and policy, I often consult with business organizations where employees are undergoing gender transition. One question that frequently comes up is whether transgender employees are mentally ill, given that the American Psychiatric Association still includes “gender identity disorder” (but not homosexuality). Some express concern that transgender co-workers will pose a sexual danger in the workplace. While I explain that there is no need to fear such a result based on my research with many hundreds of companies, I have difficulty explaining away the diagnosis. Can you provide a better explanation for the presence of “gender identity disorder” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association?
June 7 Attorney Seminar on Gender Identity and Low-Income Client Rights at NYC Bar Association
A free — pro bono — CLE June 7, 12-4 p.m., NYC Bar Association, CLE room
Transgender Job-Seekers Face Discrimination | News | Advocate.com
Transgender Job-Seekers Face Discrimination | News | Advocate.com
EEOC Must Pay $4.6 Million in Fees and Costs for Suing Without Investigating
HR managers must be sensitive to and investigate discrimination claims reasonably before making decisions or taking action. Failure to do so can result in legal problems for the manager and his or her organization. The same applies to government agencies charged with investigating discrimination claims. In a recently released opinion, the U.S. Federal District Court for the Norther District of Iowa decided that the EEOC had failed to reasonably investigate before bringing charges against a trucking company. It has required the agency to pay the trucking company’s legal fees and costs, in the amount of $4.6 million.
As a side note, it is interesting to consider that the pending Employment Non-Discrimination Act might not permit attorney fees to the prevailing party, depending on changes that are currently still in Committee and have not yet been made public.
The commission filed a gender discrimination suit against the employer on behalf of 270 women it said were victims of discrimination. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa found that “the EEOC did not conduct any investigation of the specific allegations of the allegedly aggrieved persons for whom it seeks relief at trial before filing the complaint — let alone issue a reasonable cause determination as to those allegations or conciliate them.” Part of the problem also appears to be that, according to the District Court, the EEOC’s complaint was not properly pled, indicating perhaps some lack of expertise by the attorneys in charge.
Transgender bias at Thruway — Page 1 — Times Union – Albany NY
The Albany Times-Union has reported on a recent court case involving discrimination against a transgender woman who was subjected to harassment and fired by the New York State Thruway Authority. She has been awarded more than $55,000 for her ordeal. She is still seeking reinstatement to her job.
A judge with the state Division of Human Rights has issued an order sustaining a complaint by Mackenzie W. Valentine, 29, a former Army dispatcher and military police officer from Cohoes who was diagnosed with gender identity disorder and underwent a court-approved gender change several years ago. The transformation took place around the time that Valentine, who changed her name from “Matthew Valentine,” began working for the Thruway Authority in Albany as a $15.30-an-hour dispatcher.
Religious Freedom and LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination
The issue of religious freedom is one of the major issues swirling around the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. If my religion requires me to shun homosexuals, is my religious freedom being impacted if the law requires me not to?
The Supreme Court has answered in favor of the religious discrimination argument on two occasions. Significantly, these were not in the workplace context, and I believe that context would call for a different analysis and a different answer.
