Big Decision in Schroer Case

Read the very good news in the Diane Schroer case:

http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/transgender/36872prs20080919.html

 

TransLaw

Thanks to sarasnavel, who corrected one of my citations in my blog post “Surgeonocracy,” I found a lot of new legal resources dealing with trans*people:

Transgender Law and Policy Institute
http://www.transgenderlaw.org/index.htm

The Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law (the whole thing, but especially the publication section on Gender Identity Issues Studies:
http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/Policy-GenderIdentity-index.html, which includes an excellent article by Dean Spade about the legal complexities involving legal sex and name changes.

Sexuality, Gender, and the Law: National and International Bibliography. University of Chicago.
http://www2.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/sexlaw.html

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & the Law: A Research Guide. University of Tulsa.
http://www.law.utulsa.edu/library/research/pathfinders/so

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and International Human Rights Law (special issue of the journal Human Rights Law Review Online)
http://hrlr.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/8/2/207

The Association of American Law Schools, Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues
http://www.aals.org/services_sections_gl.php

 

Gender Discrimination Survey

I just took the newly-released National Survey on Transgender Discrimination, and urge you to do so, as well. In responding to the survey questions, I realize just how smoothly my transsexual transition has been. I was unable to say “yes” to any questions about discrimination at work, in seeking medical attention, in dealing with the police or law, or in my daily routine. I don’t know whether it’s because of having power, as one of my friends asserts, or because of having some money (or at least having come from a moneyed family in my home town), as was detailed in a blog post a couple of months ago, or maybe some other factor. Maybe Bedford Falls is tolerant and accepting and interested in diversity, even in the face of brutal stereotypes about it to the contrary. Maybe the world responds to me like a mirror, and since I’ve been going around about my business, maybe the world does the same. Or maybe I’m just lucky. I don’t know, but I do feel lucky and blessed and accepted, however it has come about.

In any case, set aside some time, as it’s quite comprehensive. This survey is yet another good outcome from the productive partnership between the NCTE and the Task Force — you will recall that they released the booklet Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People in April, 2008, a very reasonable and organizational-minded booklet. At my own university, this book is the cornerstone of the upcoming (Oct 6-10) LGBT Coming Out Awareness Week, about which I’ll write more later.

Respond to the survey online at
https://online.survey.psu.edu/endtransdiscrim

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WASHINGTON, DC September 11, 2008 — In the wake of one of the most violent years on record of assaults on transgender people, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (The Task Force) have teamed up on a comprehensive national survey to collect data on discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment, public accommodation, health care, education, family life and criminal justice.

To date, in 2008, several young gender non-conforming people of color have been murdered, including California junior high school student Lawrence King, who was shot in public during the school day. King’s murder, and the murders of Simmie Williams in South Carolina and Angie Zappata in Greeley, Colorado come in a year in which we are still working to include transgender provisions in a federal bill to protect lesbian, gay and bisexual workers from discrimination in employment.

Hate crimes against transgender people suggest multiple points of vulnerability, which can compound each other: discrimination in employment may lead to unstable housing situations which in turn can leave transgender people at the mercy of public programs and public officials who may not respond respectfully or appropriately to them. These stressors add burdens in a health care system that is often unprepared for transgender people’s needs. The list goes on. “We know that transgender people face discrimination on multiple fronts,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of NCTE. “This data will help us sort out the combination of forces that leave transgender people vulnerable to unemployment, homelessness, and violence.”

Jaime Grant, director of the Task Force Policy Institute noted, “There is so little concrete data on the needs and risks associated with the widespread discrimination we see in the lives of the transgender people we know. This data will help point the way to an appropriate policy agenda to ensure that transgender people have a fair chance to contribute their talents in the workplace, in our educational systems and in our communities.”

NCTE and the Task Force have partnered with Pennsylvania State University’s Center for the Study of Higher Education to collect and analyze the data. Applying rigorous academic standards to the investigation will strengthen any case made to legislators, policy makers, health care providers, and others whose decisions impact the lives of transgender people. A national team of experts in survey research and transgender issues developed the questionnaire, which can be completed on-line at https://online.survey.psu.edu/endtransdiscrim. Paper copies can also be downloaded from the NCTE and The Task Force websites soon.

 

MD High Court Throws out Anti-Trans Referendum

MARYLAND HIGH COURT THROWS OUT REFERENDUM PETITION THAT ATTEMPTED TO OVERTURN A TRANSGENDER ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW

Annapolis, Md. – Today, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that an inadequate referendum petition to block a unanimously enacted transgender protection law may not go on the ballot for the November general election, and the law must be allowed to go into effect. The high court reversed the decision of a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge, who had previously ruled that the referendum effort to overturn the law should be allowed on the November ballot, despite the acknowledgment that the petition did not carry the legally required number of signatures. Today’s ruling by the high court is the final word on the fate of the referendum.

On November 13, 2007, the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed an act adding gender identity to the county’s civil rights law in order to address discrimination against transgender individuals. A group calling itself Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) sought to collect enough signatures on a referendum petition to block the law from going into effect. Lambda Legal, together with counsel retained by Equality Maryland, represented concerned Montgomery County registered voters who opposed CRG’s flawed referendum effort to set back the clock on civil rights in Montgomery County. Lambda Legal and Equality Maryland argued that the number of signatures needed to put the referendum petition on the November general election ballot was insufficient and that the Montgomery County Board of Elections over-counted purported signature entries in violation of detailed statutes that safeguard the referendum process.

“This long overdue, crucial law is all about assuring that unchecked bias is not allowed to inhibit our neighbors’ abilities to make a living or rent a home, and as a Montgomery County resident, I breathe a sigh of relief that this campaign to roll back anti-discrimination protections is now over,” said Dan Furmansky, Executive Director of Equality Maryland. “While we were ready to make our case to the voters of Montgomery County, it is far better that our transgender brothers and sisters be spared the rhetoric that the referendum proponents have subjected them to over the past year. Equality Maryland thanks Lambda Legal, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the law firm of Arnold and Porter, and the many volunteers who came together to assure that our laws in Montgomery County are on par with the 100 other jurisdictions nationally that protect residents from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.”

Read more about Equality Maryland’s website.