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Recent News
March 26, 2007--Geneva--‘Yogyakarta Principles’
a Milestone for Lesbian, Gay, Biual, and Transgender Rights; Experts Set Out Global
Standards for ual Rights and Gender Equality. A groundbreaking set of principles on
ual orientation, gender identity, and international law is a landmark advance in the
struggle for basic human rights as well as gender equality, Human Rights Watch and the
Center for Women’s Global Leadership said today. The document, known as the
Yogyakarta Principles after the city where it was adopted, was launched today in Geneva by
a group of 29 international human rights experts. Complete HRW Press Release here. The Yogyakarta
Principles are online here: yogyakartaprinciples.org.
March 4, 2007--Transgender
Rights, edited by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, and Shannon Price Minter
is a finalist in the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards.
March 2, 2007--United Kingdom--New Research Report released,
"Engendered Penalties: Transgender and Transual People’s Experiences of
Inequality and Discrimination." Authored by Stephen Whittle, Lewis Turner and
Maryam Al-Alami, this 95 page report was commissioned by the UK Government's Equalities
Review. As a consequence of the report's findings, the UK Government has announced that
transgender will be a protected category (along with & gender; race &
ethnicity; physical or mental disability; religion & faith; age; and ual
orientation) for the new Equalities and Human Rights Commission that starts work in
October 2007. Report is online in PDF here here.
January 23, 2007--San Francisco, CA--Transgender Law Center seeks an
Executive Director. The Transgender Law
Center (TLC), founded in 2002, is a multi-disciplinary social justice organization
working to ensure that all Californians are able to fully and freely express our gender
identities. Job announcement here.
December 14, 2006--Trenton, NJ--New Jersey Legislature passes bill
that adds civil rights protections for transgender people. Story here.
December 5, 2006--New York, NY--The New York City Board of
Health voted today to reject, in part, a proposal to update New York City’s policy
permitting transgender people born in New York City to change the gender on their birth
certificates to bring the policy – which has not been updated since 1971 – into
line with contemporary medical knowledge and practice. While the Board did vote to allow
new birth certificates to be issued with a transgender person’s new gender marked on
them, they rejected a common sense medical recommendation to better recognize a
person’s transition from one gender to another. Complete press release here.
November 2006--New York, NY--New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene is considering a rule change that would allow transgender people born in
NYC to have their birth certificates amended. For more information, visit the FAQ on the
Sylvia Rivera Law Project's site here. The
information about the hearing, and the proposed policy, is here. To talk to a TLPI
Board member and one of the trans health / policy experts on the Department of Health
Advisory Committee that developed the recommendations, email us at pressinquiry@transgenderlaw.org.
October 27, 2006--Washington, DC--Lawmakers
to introduce trans-inclusive ENDA in ’07 (Gay)
Frank to help draft new language; Kennedy mum on support for bill.
Full Washington Blade story here.
October 2006--Washington, DC--The upcoming General Election on
November 7th is poised to tip the balance of LGBT-supportive policymakers in office. To
increase the number of LGBT-supportive policymakers, the National Center for Transgender
Equality (NCTE) released a new Voter Guide today to educate and empower transgender voters
about their rights to access the polls. Trans people may find voting to be an intimidating
process for many reasons. Guide online in PDF at www.nctequality.org
October 2006--New York, NY--New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene is considering a rule change that would allow transgender people born in
NYC to have their birth certificates amended. For more information, vist the FAQ on the
Sylvia Rivera Law Project's site here. The
information about the hearing, and the proposed policy, is here.
September, 2006--San Francisco, CA--The nation's first bill to address
use of panic strategies, the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act (AB 1160), was signed
into law today by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Authored by Assemblywoman
Sally Lieber and Sponsored by Equality California, the bill puts California firmly on
record as opposing a defendant's use of societal bias against their victim in order to
decrease their own culpability for a crime. For more information, visit the Transgender
Law Center here.
September 21, 2006--West Chester, PA--West Chester is the newest
community in Pennsylvania to prohibit discrimination based on ual orientation and
gender identity or expression in housing, employment, and public accommodations.
365gay.com story here.
August 19, 2006--Boston, MA. Transgendered inmates push for
state-funded -change surgery...."People often have a knee-jerk reaction that
public money shouldn't be spent on this," said Shannon Minter, a board member of the
Transgender Law and Policy Institute. "If people are not treated, they suffer
tremendously," said Minter. "It's just as cruel to withhold treatment for gender
identity disorder as it is to withhold treatment for any other medical issue." USA today story
here.
July 13, 2006. Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist
Biologist Who Underwent Change Describes Biases Against Women. Washington Post
story online here.
July 6, 2006--San Francisco, CA--TG job, health efforts get funding.
"Hoping to improve the possibilities of the transgender community, the budget
committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Thursday, June 29, approved
$300,000 in the 2006 budget toward the "Comprehensive Transgender Employment
Initiative," an effort geared toward transgender economic empowerment. The unanimous
vote –championed by Supervisors Bevan Dufty and the Transgender Law Center's Chris
Daly – effectively earmarked $200,000 in general funds to increase opportunities for
transgender employees and entrepreneurs through employment and mentorship programs." Full story here.
Back to top
International
March 26, 2007--Geneva--‘Yogyakarta Principles’
a Milestone for Lesbian, Gay, Biual, and Transgender Rights; Experts Set Out Global
Standards for ual Rights and Gender Equality. A groundbreaking set of principles on
ual orientation, gender identity, and international law is a landmark advance in the
struggle for basic human rights as well as gender equality, Human Rights Watch and the
Center for Women’s Global Leadership said today. The document, known as the
Yogyakarta Principles after the city where it was adopted, was launched today in Geneva by
a group of 29 international human rights experts. Complete HRW Press Release here. The Yogyakarta
Principles are online here: yogyakartaprinciples.org.
November 15, 2005--Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia--Malaysia Voids Transual's Marriage. The Malaysian
government has refused to recognize a marriage between a man and his transual spouse -
believed to be the first such union in this mostly Muslim country. More from 365gay.com here.
Back
to top
Legislation and
policy
March 2, 2007--United Kingdom--New
Research Report released, "Engendered Penalties: Transgender and Transual
People’s Experiences of Inequality and Discrimination." Authored by
Stephen Whittle, Lewis Turner and Maryam Al-Alami, this 95 page report was commissioned by
the UK Government's Equalities Review. As a consequence of the report's findings, the UK
Government has announced that transgender will be a protected category (along with
& gender; race & ethnicity; physical or mental disability; religion & faith;
age; and ual orientation) for the new Equalities and Human Rights Commission that
starts work in October 2007. Report is online in PDF here here.
December 14, 2006--Trenton, NJ--New Jersey
Legislature passes bill that adds civil rights protections for transgender people. Story here.
December 5, 2006--New York, NY--The
New York City Board of Health voted today to reject, in part, a proposal to update New
York City’s policy permitting transgender people born in New York City to change the
gender on their birth certificates to bring the policy – which has not been updated
since 1971 – into line with contemporary medical knowledge and practice. While the
Board did vote to allow new birth certificates to be issued with a transgender
person’s new gender marked on them, they rejected a common sense medical
recommendation to better recognize a person’s transition from one gender to another.
Complete press release here.
November 2006--New York, NY--New York City
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is considering a rule change that would allow
transgender people born in NYC to have their birth certificates amended. For more
information, visit the FAQ on the Sylvia Rivera Law Project's site here. The
information about the hearing, and the proposed policy, is here. To talk to a TLPI
Board member and one of the trans health / policy experts on the Department of Health
Advisory Committee that developed the recommendations, email us at pressinquiry@transgenderlaw.org.
October 27, 2006--Washington, DC--Lawmakers to introduce trans-inclusive ENDA in ’07 (Gay)
Frank to help draft new language; Kennedy mum on support for bill.
Full Washington Blade story here.
October 2006--Washington, DC--The upcoming
General Election on November 7th is poised to tip the balance of LGBT-supportive
policymakers in office. To increase the number of LGBT-supportive policymakers, the
National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) released a new Voter Guide today to
educate and empower transgender voters about their rights to access the polls. Trans
people may find voting to be an intimidating process for many reasons. Guide online in PDF
at www.nctequality.org
September, 2006--San Francisco, CA--The
nation's first bill to address use of panic strategies, the Gwen Araujo Justice for
Victims Act (AB 1160), was signed into law today by California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber and Sponsored by Equality
California, the bill puts California firmly on record as opposing a defendant's use of
societal bias against their victim in order to decrease their own culpability for a crime.
For more information, visit the Transgender Law Center here.
September 21, 2006--West
Chester, PA--West Chester is the newest community in Pennsylvania to prohibit
discrimination based on ual orientation and gender identity or expression in housing,
employment, and public accommodations. 365gay.com story here.
April 19, 2006--Bloomington, IN--Bloomington
Second Indiana City to Provide Gender Identity Protections. Bloomington has become the
second Indiana city to provide civil-rights protections based on gender identity. This
change means that Bloomington city code will treat "gender identity" as a
category protected against discrimination, just like race, religion, disability, and
ual orientation. The Bloomington City Council vote was preceded by two years of broad
community advocacy. The April 19, 2006 vote by the Bloomington City Council provides for
voluntary mediation to address complaints of gender-identity discrimination. The ordinance
also allows the Bloomington Human Rights Commission (BHRC) to pursue gender-identity
complaints selectively as -discrimination complaints, with the power to enforce
compliance.
March 2, 2006--US Postal
Service issues new policy prohibiting harassment, disparate treatment based in gender
identitication, gender stereoptyping. Policy is online here in PDF
(go to page 56).
February 8, 2006--New York, NY--NYC's
Department of Homeless Services Issues a Trans-Affirmative Housing Policy. Gender
Identity Will Determine Shelter Placement for Transgender New Yorkers. The New York
City Department of Homeless Services ended discriminatory practices toward transgender
clients at its homeless shelters with the release of a new policy. Advocates from the
Lesbian, Gay, Biual & Transgender Community Center (the Center), Queers for
Economic Justice (QEJ), the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP), and the Transgeneder Law and
Policy Instituteworked to adopt this change, which guides intake, assessment, and shelter
staff to ensure that gender identity is taken into consideration when making intake
assignments. See GLBT Center Press Release here. See the actual policy in PDF here.
January 31, 2006--Washington
State--Governor Gregoire signed a bill that explicitly prohibits acts of prejudice
against gay, lesbian, biual and transgender people. Washington becomes the eighth
state to include gender identity in its non-discrimination law, and the seventeenth to
include ual orientation. The right wing is already planning a ballot initiative to
repeal it. See story
here. See
bill 2661 as enacted here.
December 22, 2005--Northampton,
MA--Northampton passes transgender inclusive non-discrimation ordinance. See the
Bay Windows story here.
December 19, 2005--Indianapolis,
IN--The city of Indianpolis, together with Marion County, just passed a law adding
ual orientation and gender identity to their non-discrimination laws. The bill is
here. FOr more information, visit the home page of Indiana Equality.
October 19, 2005--New York,
NY--In September 2005, the NYC Department of Education revised its Discipline
Code to state that students can be disciplined for using slurs, taunting, bullying, and
engaging in physical violence based on a person’s gender identity or expression.
Policy here
(PDF).
October
11, 2005--Dearborn Heights, MI--City Council passes transgender inclusive human
rights law.
September 30,
2005--Sacramento, CA--On Thursday, September 29th, 2005 Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bills into law that increased legal protections for the LGBT
community. See National Center for Transgender Equality Press release here in PDF.
September 30, 2005--Washington
DC--Senate Hate Crimes Bill Won't Include Trans: The passage of a trans-inclusive
hate crimes bill shows that there has been progress in educating lawmakers on gender
identity issues, advocates said, but achieving protections against discrimination in
employment and other key areas will require much more work. See Washington Blade story here. See alslo
earlier story, September 14, 2005--Washington, DC--US House passes trans
inclusive Hate Crimes law. Planet Out story here.
September 22, 2005--Amnesty
International USA debuts its in-depth report, Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct
Against LGBT people in the US. Click
here to read the report and summaries.
September, 9, 2005--National Center for
Transgender Equality Releases, Guidelines for Evacuation Shelters: Making Shelters Safe
for Transgender Evacuees aims to assist shelters in serving transgender evacuees.
Here in PDF.
March 31,
2004--Maine becomes the 16th state to
protect LGB people from discrimination and the 6th state to protect transgender people
with clear legislative language. The law prohibits discrimination in employment, housing,
credit, public accommodations, and educational opportunities based on ual orientation
or gender identity and expression.
March 28, 2005--Transgender at Work
is happy to announce the availability of a new research material available on their web
site -- measuring the frequency and cost of Transgender Health Benefits (THBs.) For
more information, visit http://www.tgender.net/
March 25, 2005--ELLENSBURG, Wash. --
Central Washington University has became the third university in the state and one of 25
nationwide to bar discrimination against openly gay, biual and transual staff and
students. AP story here.
March 24, 2005--Maryland House Passes Gay
Hate Crimes Act. More here.
February 14, 2005--Madison,
WI--“Gender Identity or Expression” Added to Non-Discrimination Policy.
The University of Wisconsin (UW) Board of Regents added “gender identity or
expression” to the list of protected categories in policy documents regarding
non-discrimination at their February 10 - 11 meeting. Press release here.
February
10, 2005--Ann Arbor, MI--U of M Union fights for trans rights;
Non-discrimination clause, health care among the issues in contract negotiations. Story here.
February 10, 2005--Washington, DC--URGENT DRIVER'S
LICENSE ALERT from the National Center for Transgender Equality: The
House of Representatives is currently considering H.R. 418, the REAL ID Act.Immediately Call and
Ask Your Representatives to vote AGAINST the REAL ID Act (H.R. 418). This bill establishes
requirements for state IDs that all states must abide by and mandates categories that must
be present on state IDs. Gender is one of those mandated categories. Although
no rules would be established regarding the process of changing gender markers, any
national regulations regarding state IDs are dangerous for civil rights. The REAL ID
Act would infringe upon civil liberties in a number of other ways, including preventing
states from issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, and limiting the groups
of lawful immigrants who can obtain licenses. Many Representatives have spoken in
opposition to his bill. The full House will vote on the bill is expected to take
place TODAY, February 10th. Please call your House
members immediately and ask them to vote AGAINST the REAL ID Act (H.R. 418). The
House of Representatives Switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. They can connect you to
your Representative based on your zip code. You can also find out the name of your
Representative by going to www.nctequality.org/Visit_Legislators.asp.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National
Center for Transgender Equality will hold its first Washington Lobby Day March 13 with a
day-long training session on lobbying techniques and the major federal policy issues
currently impacting transgender people taking place the day before. For more
information, click
here.
January 31, 2005--Ann Arbor, MI--The
Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Michigan pushes contract extension;
one demand is to protect transgender members of the union. Story here.
January 13, 2005--New York, NY--New York
City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the City’s Pension Funds, has
launched an effort urging 15 Fortune 500 companies to bar discrimination based on ual
orientation. Thompson asked three additional companies to implement policies that prohibit
discrimination based on gender identity. Here.
January 11, 2004--Chicago, IL- VICTORY.
From The Advocate: Illinois house, senate pass gay rights bill. The
Illinois house on Tuesday passed a bill banning discrimination against gay, lesbian,
biual, and transgender people and sent it to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has said he
supports the measure. If the Democratic governor signs it, Illinois will join 13 other
states that prohibit discrimination based on ual orientation and [and the four that
also prohibit discrimination on the basis of] gender identity. The TLPI congratulates
Miranda Stevens-Miller and all the IL activists who worked for years on this effort. Story here.
January 7, 2004--MD--Gay representative
says trans Inclusion dooms Maryland hate crime bill. Here.
December 22, 2004--New York, NY--Two and
half years after the NYC Human Rights Law was amended to include gender identity and
expression, the Human Rights Commission finally releases "Compliance Guidelines
Regarding Gender Identity Discrimination." Available
here in PDF. Gay City News story about the guidelines here.
But San Francisco's compliance guidelines are much more clearly written and should be used
as the model for others. They are online here.
December 15, 2004--GLAD wins
tax deduction for reassignment surgery. Press release here. The
Christian right wing is not supportive of this change, see a story here. If you can run video clips on your computer, click here to see
Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equalilty debate Andrea Sheldon
Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition on Fox News regarding the IRS decision.
September 14, 2004--Kings County, WA--"Gender
identity" divides King County Council.Metropolitan King County Council members
yesterday delayed for two weeks a vote on County Executive Ron Sims' proposal to protect
transuals and transvestites from discrimination. Here.
August, 2004--Indiana--Gov.
Kernan Protects Transgender State Employees. In an exciting summer of progress for the
transgender community, Indiana Governor Joseph E. Kernan (D) has become the first Indiana
governor to take the bold and long-awaited step to protect Hoosiers who work in state
government from discrimination based on gender identity. Here.
September 3, 2004--Seattle, WA--The
School Board decided Wednesday to add "gender identity" to the list of personal
characteristics protected against defamation and discrimination in educational opportunity
or employment in the schools, for students and staff members. Here.
September 2, 2004--New York, NY--Turning
HRC’s Promise Into Action. "A resolution adopted earlier this month by the board
of directors of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) represents an enormous step forward for
the transgender community. The lesbian, gay, biual and transgender (LGBT)
community’s leading voice in Washington is now clearly on the record saying that
transgender inclusion in federal anti-discrimination legislation is essential, not
optional." Gay City News Op-ed by Donna Cartwright here.
August 23, 2004-Washington, DC--Coalition
Creates U.S. Transgender Health Priorities Primer: Comprehensive Document Begins to
Address Thirteen Health Disparities Among Population. The National Coalition for
Lesbian, Gay, Biual, and Transgender Health, in an effort to address health disparities
among the transgender population, has compiled "An Overview of U.S. Trans Health
Priorities." Priorities here in PDF.
Advocate story here. See the coalition page here.
August 19, 2004--Washington, DC--Trans
Mission. NTCE leader Mara
Keisling believes the time has come for transgenders to be fully included in the politics
of being GLBT. Interview here in Metro Weekly.
August
2004, Washington, DC--The Transgender Law & Policy Institute Applauds HRC
Board for Trans-inclusive Stance on Federal Legislation: full TLPI press release here; see stories in Gay City
News and the Washington Blade; op-ed by HRC head Cheryl Jacques here.
Letter to the editor says Barney Frank's transphobia hurts entire community in Bay
Window's here.This development has not
pleased the gay right: see the editorial from the editor of the Washington Blade,
"ENDA gets trans-jacked," here (letters in
response here;
and "HRC and the End of ENDA" in the Texas Triangle here.
Gay City News Op-ed by Donna Cartwright here.
Activists outside of the Human
Rights Campaign, August 7, 2004
August 2004, MA--New report by Dr. Jillian
Todd Weiss, "The Cutting Edge
of Employment Diversity: Transgender Human Resources Policies in U.S. Employers"
August, 2004--Washington, DC--US
Government Announces Policy on Transual Applicants. In an interoffice memorandum,
William R. Yates, Associate Director for Operations of the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (CIS) announced that in its adjudication of spousal and fiancé
petitions, the agency would not recognize a marriage or intended marriage where either
party claims to be a transual. Full story here.
July 15, 2004--New York, NY--More on the Democratic
platform and trans issues: Ousted from Democracy; In April, I led a team of trans and
trans-supportive activists in a meeting that included the GLBT Outreach team
leaders of both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Kerry campaign. Here.
July 15, 2004--Pennsylvania--Nondiscrimination
policy all talk, no action, some say; LGBT activists question whether gender identity
clause will yield changes in housing, bathrooms. Here.
July 8, 2004--Miami Beach, FL--Gay friendly resort
city voted unanimously Wednesday to include transgender people in its anti-discrimination
ordinance. Here.
June 21, 2004--Detroit, MI--Transgendered Workers
Gain Protection. Good overview oped by Deb Price. Here.
June 17, 2004--Austin, TX--Victory for Austin's
Transgendered Community! Austin City Council Takes "First Step" Toward Equality.
Here.
June 16, 2004--Washington, DC--Senate Adds ual
Orientation, Gender to 'Hate Crimes' Law. Here.
June 15, 2004--Allentown, PA--City gender law thrown
out; Lehigh County judge says Allentown's gay-rights ordinance violated a state statute in
giving businesses more duties. Ruling affects only the city. Here.
June 10, 2004--Austin, TX--Victory for Austin's
Transgendered Community! Austin City Council Takes "First Step" Toward
Equality. From Transgender Advocates of Central Texas: Today, Austin became the
third city in Texas and the 71st municipality in the country to add gender identity as a
protected class to its human rights ordinance. Austin's City council voted unanimously to
amend the Austin City Human Rights Ordinance to include gender identity as a protected
class in employment, housing, and public accommodation.
June 8, 2004--London, UK--The Gender Recognition
Bill has now passed all its parliamentary stages, and awaits Royal Assent. A Hansard
record of this is available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/pdvn/home.htm.
June 3, 2004--Newark, CA--n a spirit of
inclusiveness and making people feel that they belong in the community, the City Council
has unanimously passed an anti-discrimination ordinance athat includes transgender people.
Here.
May 28, 2004--New York, NY--Trans protection
compromised? Two years after law was passed, commission still has no guidelines. Here.
May 13, 2004--Exclusionary tactics, by
Gwendolyn Ann Smith. I recently had the pleasure to walk up Rhode Island Avenue in
Washington, D.C., and stand in front of a large, glass-fronted building. In my hand was a
sign which said, simply, “Ten Years of Exclusion.” The building were were
standing on front of had a large, burnished aluminum sign near the top — in the shape
of an “equals” sign....Here.
April 16, 2004--Houston, TX--Transgender activists
to make their voices heard; Houston woman will lead transgender activists when they lobby
Congress. Here.
April 16, 2004--Annapolis, MD--Lawmaker
sabotages hate crimes bill [that had already been stripped of language that would have
included transgender people]. Here.
April 7, 2004--Michigan--ACLU pushes for transgender
rights. Here.
April 2, 2004--Annapolis, MD--Gender
identity dropped from hate crimes measure, angering activists. Here.
April 1, 2004--Huntington Beach, CA--Board
members stand firm on transgender discrimination policy. Here.
March 26, 2004--Arizona--Arizona State University
has revised its nondiscrimination policy to include "gender identity," making it
the fourth public university to extend such protections to transgender students and
employees. Story here.
Policy here.
February 18, 2004--Ithaca, NY--Tompkins
County adds gender identity to its non-discrimination law. Here.
January 2, 2004--Vancouver, BC--Court
Rules Rape Center Did Not Discriminate In Refusing TG Volunteer. Here.
Decision here.
December 20, 2003--Oakland, CA--Oakland
protects transgender people: Transgender people will be protected from discrimination
under an ordinance adopted unanimously by the Oakland City Council on Tuesday night. Here.
December 19, 2003--Rochester, NY--School policy
shields transgendered. Story
here.
November 28, 2003--London, UK--The Gender
Recognition Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords yesterday and is
published today. The purpose of the Bill is to give transual people legal recognition
in their acquired gender ensuring that, for the first time, transual people are
afforded all the rights and responsibilities appropriate to that gender. See Prime
Minister's press release here. Department for Constitutional Affairs press release here. See news
story here.
November 28, 2003--Washington, DC--Trans
woman reports ual assault in D.C. male cellblock. Incident prompts police to consider
changing record system. Here.
November 25, 2003--Washington, DC--U.S.
senators introduce gay marriage ban; Three Republican U.S. senators on Tuesday introduced
a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Here.
November 24, 2003--Rochester, NY--Transgender
Teens Seek Dignity: The Rochester City School District is working on a proposal that would
protect gay, biual, and transgender students called the "Dignity For All Students
Act.” Here.
November 24, 2003--London, UK--Queen's
Speech will give go-ahead to -change weddings and
adoptions. Here.
October 23, 2003--Lake Oswego, OR--Lake
Oswego extends rights for ual minority [including transgender] groups. Here.
October 15, 2003--Oakland, CA--Panel
approves transgender proposal; Bill expands ual orientation aspect of
anti-discrimination law. On HRC Worknet here.
September 24, 2003--Jamison Green's Planet Out
Column: Who Loves Ya, Baby? The marriage between G, L, B and T interests has not
always been a happy one, but trans activists have been working very hard for over a decade
now to ensure that relations between our camps are constructive and mutually supportive.
So I was quite surprised and dismayed to see Riki Ann Wilchins' opinion piece in the
September 2 issue of The Advocate magazine. Here.
September 11, 2003--South Africa--Transuals
Fight for Right to Change ual Identities. Story here. Another
story here.
September 5, 2003--New York, NY--Gender at
its Core: Freedom of expression and the debate over identity politics. Op-ed by Pauline
Park. Here.
August 18, 2003--Portland, OR--IN MY
OPINION. Last week, after waiting to greet Sen. Hillary Clinton with my family, I
found myself described in The Oregonian as: "actually a man in a dress." It was
cruelly dismissive. Guest editorial by Lori Buckwalter here.
August 3, 2003--San Francisco,
CA--TLPI news release: CALIFORNIA BECOMES FOURTH STATE TO ENACT ANTI-DISCRIMINATION
PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE; California Governor Signs Historic
Anti-Discrimination Bill: Yesterday California became the fourth state to ban
discrimination against transgender people when California Governor Gray Davis signed AB
196, a bill amending the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to specifically
include transgender employees and tenants.
Release here. AP wire story here.
July 29, 2003--San Diego, CA--City council
includes gender identity in non-discrimination law.
July 29, 2003--Pennsylvania joined a small
group of states yesterday that guards transgendered people from employment discrimination
in state government. Story here.
Text
here in pdf.
July 25, 2003--Sacramento, CA--CA Senate
passes bill outlawing bias against transgendered residents. In a sign of growing
tolerance for transuals, the California Senate agreed Thursday to ban housing and job
discrimination against residents whose "perceived gender characteristics are
different from those traditionally associated with the individual's at
birth." The bill has been sent to the Governor for his signature. Story here.
July 17, 2003--San Diego, CA--City Council
approves transgender protections in preliminary vote;
Human Dignity Ordinance amendment to become law after second vote on July 28. Story here.
July 8, 2003--Ithaca, NY--City amends
human rights law to add a transgender-inclusive definition of gender.
July 6, 2003--United Kingdom--Transuals
win right to marry; Britain's 5,000 transuals who have gone through a full medical
change are to be given the legal right to marry and have the gender changed on their birth
certificate. Guardian story here.
June 28, 2003--Washington, DC--Trans
rights leader Mara Keisling urges gay support against ‘same enemies’; New leader
for a new Washington lobby group. See Washington Blade story here.
June 26, 2003--Albany, NY--New York safe
school bill dies over disagreement over gender expression. See story here.
NEW UNIFIED EFFORTS FOR FEDERAL TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
LEGISLATION
June 17, 2003--Transgender Leaders Laud
Unified Voice of GLBT Community in Federal Legislative Efforts. The National
Center for Transgender Equality and the Transgender Law & Policy Institute hosted a
conference call on Tuesday, June 17 for GLBT media to discuss recent efforts to include
transgender people in federal non-discrimination legislation. See remarks and list of participants here in pdf format. Here
in HTML format.
News coverage: Advocates
to Develop ENDA Alternative (New York City Gay City News); A
new approach on ENDA HRC joins other groups in insisting that transgenders be included in
fair-employment legislation (Dallas Voice). New
"Unified" Bill to Replace ENDA (MetroG); Texas--Human
Rights Campaign and Trans Community Unite On New Federal Bill (Texas Triangle);
Op-eds: ENDA and the
Trans Community, an op-ed by Elizabeth Birch, ED of the Human Rights Campaign; Partial Equality?,
an op-ed by Lisa Mottet, Legislative Lawyer for the Transgender Civil Rights Project at
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
June 19, 2003--Ann Arbor, MI--A bill was
introduced into the state House on Tuesday, which would add gender identity and ual
orientation clauses to a long-standing anti-discrimination law - but lobbyists and
legislators aren't optimistic about the bill's chances. See story here.
June 13, 2003--New York, NY--Federal
Employment Non-Discrimination Act Unlikely To Be Broadened; Congressional sponsors see
transgender protections as politically costly. See Gay City News story.
June 13, 2003--Columbus, OH--Ohio needs
GLBT equality bill, sponsor tells committee. The first bill ever introduced in the
Ohio legislature to extend civil rights to gays, lesbians, biuals and transgenders got
its first hearing on June 3. Gay People's Chronicle story here.
June 9, 2003--Indianapolis, IN-- A broad
based coalition of LGBT activists from across Indiana has formed to persuade the
legislature to amend the state’s civil rights law to include ual orientation and
gender identity. See the press packet from Indiana Equality here. Other stories:
See good story in Indiana University paper. See Indiana Star story here.
365gay.com story here.
June 6, 2003--Albuquerque, NM--GOP
petition aims to halt gay [and trans] rights bill. Republican activists are now
circulating a petition statewide to force a referendum on a gay-rights bill that passed
this year's legislature. Story here.
May 29, 2003--South Africa--"
changes" to be legally recognized. Here.
May 16, 2003--Columbus, OH--Senate Bill 77 may be amended
to include gender identity. See story here.
May 8, 2003--Washington, DC--Pride at Work passes a
transgender inclusion resolution pledging to only endorse legislation that explicitly
includes transgender people. See resolution in pdf here.
May 8, 2003--Oregon--SB 786 considers gender identity: A
state senate bill introduced in March would outlaw ual orientation or gender identity
discrimination if approved. See Oregon Daily Emerald story here.
May 5, 2003--Albuquerque, NM--Bid launched
to repeal NM Gay and Trans Law. See 365gay.com story here.
May 1, 2003--Orange County, CA--NGLTF'S
Matt Foreman Exploring Transgender Issues. See the Orange County & Long Beach Blade
story here.
April 30, 2003--Raleigh, NC--Bill
expanding coverage of equal opportunity rights fails: One vote blocked the passage
of a bill that would extend equal opportunity rights to gay, lesbian and transgender North
Carolina state employees. Story here.
April 30, 2003--Philadelphia, PA--Invoking
U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's name as a symbol of the repressive attitudes they say they are
fighting, gay [and transgender] rights advocates yesterday called on Pennsylvania
lawmakers to outlaw certain types of discrimination against homouals and transgender
people. See Post-Gazette story here.
April 30, 2003--Covington, KY--Gay,
lesbian, biual and transgender people win expanded rights coverage. See
Cincinnati Enquirer story here.
See PlanetOut story here.
April 30, 2003--Buffalo, NY--Buffalo News
editorial: Asking for fairness: Legislation to protect transgender individuals
should be supported in NY Legislature. Here.
April 22, 2003--Peoria, IL--City Council
votes to ban discrimination based on ual orientation and gender identity.
April 21, 2003--Sacramento, CA--California
Assembly Passes Gender Nondiscrimination Bill: The California State Assembly Monday passed
legislation to prohibit discrimination based on gender stereotyping in housing and
employment. See 365gay.com story here. See Sacramento Bee story here.
SF Gate story here.
April 19, 2003--Peoria, IL--Council split
on LGBT rights clause. Peoria leaders will vote Tuesday on proposed addition. See
story here.
April 17, 2003--Covington, KY--A proposal to outlaw
discrimination based on ual orientation is unnecessary and would "normalize''
homoual behavior, the Citizens for Community Values organization claims in a letter
sent Tuesday to 20,000 Covington households. See Cincinatti Enquirer story here.
April 16, 2003--Tampa, FL--Monroe County Enacts Protections
for Transgender People. Civil rights activists across the state are applauding the
Monroe County Commission’s unanimous decision to amend its local nondiscrimination
law to include transgender people. See press release here.
April 14, 2003--Florida Safe Schools Law
Blocked Senator Cites Necrophilia Concerns. Story.
April 13, 2003--New York, NY--New York Legislators
Introduce Transgender Non-discrimination Legislation; Law desperately needed, say
advocates. See TLPI release See Gay City
News story here.
April 12, 2003--Olympia, WA--Push on in state senate for
anti-discrimination bill: It took one gay senator to die of AIDS and another gay
representative to gain clout and power before the state House passed a measure making
discrimination against gay and lesbian [and transgender] people illegal. See Seattle
Post-Intelligencer story here.
April 12, 2003-Erie County, PA--Abolishing Gay [and Trans]
Rights By Making Law Unenforceable. County Executive Rick Schenker, a longtime foe of gay
rights protections, has a plan to emasculate an anti-discrimination ordinance that
includes uality. See 365gay.com story here.
April 9, 2003--Santa Fe, New Mexico--New Mexico Governor
Bill Richardson signs transgender-inclusive non-discimination law and hate crimes law. See 365gay.com
story. See Seattle Gay News story here.
April 9, 2003--El Paso, TX--City amends ordinance on
discrimination: The City Council expanded its anti-discrimination ordinance Tuesday,
unanimously voting to ban discrimination based on ual orientation or gender
identity. See El Paso Time story here.
April 4, 2003--Columbus, OH--For the first time ever, a
bill to protect gay, lesbian,biual and transgender Ohioans from discrimination has been
introduced in the Ohio Statehouse. See story
here.
April 4, 2003--New York, NY--New York
Gender Rights Bill Emerges: Democratic leaders, transgender activists finalize details of
proposal. See
GCN story.
April 2, 2003--Honolulu, Hawai'i-- With a vote of 39-8, the
Hawai`i House of Representatives sent Senate Bill 616, which adds "gender identity or
expression" to the state's hate crimes law, to the Governor. The bill sailed through
the Hawaiian legislature this session with a series of lopsided votes. Read read of
NGLTF press release here.
March 28, 2003--Denver, CO--AP Story: Bill Lets Doctors,
Nurses Refuse To Treat Homouals. Read story here.
March 25, 2003--Austin, TX--Representative
Jessica Farrar laid out House Bill 574 to the House Committee on Business and Industry.
This bill, the first pro GLBT bill to be heard during the 78th session of the Texas
Legislaturek would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of ual orientation
and gender identity in Texas.
March 25, 2003--Broward County, Florida--Gender
identity may be added to protections. Read Sun-Sentinel story here.
March 25, 2003--Transgenders seek equality
in eyes of law. Read Orlando Sentinel Story here.
March 22, 2003--Santa Fe, New Mexico--The New Mexico State
Legislature late Friday approved a bill to prohibit discrimination in the workplace
against people based on ual orientation or gender identification. The measure now
goes to Gov. Bill Richardson, who has said he would sign such a measure. See NGLTF
press release here
off site.
March 21, 2003--Santa Fe, New Mexico--The New Mexico Hate
Crimes Bill passed the New Mexico House of Representatives today, and Gov. Bill Richardson
has pledged to sign the legislation. See NGLTF press release here off
site.
March 19, 2003--Sacramento, CA--Gender Non-discrimination
bill passes key Assembly committee. Read CAPE release here.
March 19, 2003--Monroe County, Florida, is
preparing to broaden its anti-discriminatory laws to include gender identity and
expression. See story here.
March 18, 2003--Seattle, WA--Seattle Times: Gay [and Trans]
Rights Bills Passes House, Faces Tough Battle in the Senate. Read story here.
March 7, 2003--Seattle, WA--Seattle Gay News: Transgender-Inclusive GLBT Civil
Rights Bill moves one step forward
March 6, 2003--Lansing,
Michigan--Transgender group to hold civil rights march for non-discrimination bills.
March 4, 2003--Santa Fe, NM--New Mexico legislators pass anti-discrimination gay and transgender rights
bill
February 27, 2003-- Following a sometimes-emotional
four-and-a-half-hour debate, the New Mexico state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill
prohibiting discrimination against gays and transgender people. Read
on
January 8, 2003--Key West, FL, Enacts
Protections for Transgender People. See
Equality Florida Press Release.
January 8, 2003--Springfield, IL, includes
transgender people in its non-discrimination law.
December 22, 2002--AP Wire Story--Transgender Activists
Encouraged by Political Victories
December 3, 2002--Housing Works Statement on Transgender
Rights and the New York State ual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA): "Gay
Rights Bill Leaves Out Transgender New Yorkers; Senate Majority Leader Bruno Must Agree to
Amend SONDA To Include Gender Expression." Click here to view off-site.
November 27, 2002--Pennsylvania Passes
Trans Inclusive Hate Crimes Legislation. "After years of hard work and
coalition building, the hate crimes bill (HB1494) was passed late this evening in the
State House of Representatives by a vote of 118-79. It passed the Senate in June 2001 and
Governor Schweicker has told us he will sign it into law very shortly. Pennsylvania is now
the fifth state in the country (CA, MO, MN, VT plus DC) to have hate crimes laws that
includes gender identity and the 28th to have ual orientation. This is the first time a
statewide law has passed in Pennsylvania that protects Transgender people."
November 27, 2002--San Jose Mercury
News, "City council Members Unanimously Approve Anti-bias Protections for
Transgender People." Prompted by the recent slaying of a transgender teen in
Newark, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to add transgender people to
the list of groups protected under the city's anti-discrimination policy.
November 27, 2002--NY Gay Rights Bill In Trouble [Because Transgender
People Have Been Left Out of the Bill]
by 365Gay.com. "Legislation to give New York gays and lesbians civil rights
protections may not be passed this session after all. The Senate is to be recalled
December 17 to consider the bill, a concession made by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno
in order to get a coveted endorsement for Gov. Pataki in the November election.
The bill would protect gays and lesbians in the areas of employment,
education, housing and public accommodations. But, opposition from transgendered groups
may force the bill to be rewritten" Click here for entire story.
November 25, 2002--Baltimore City Council
Passes Transgender Anti-Discrimination Protections. See Maryland Free State Justice site
for the press release. Click here
for the actual ordinance in pdf format.
November 19, 2002--Cook County,
Illinois, Board Okays Gender Identity Amendment. See Illinois Gender Advocates Home page
for more information. Click here for the ordinance text in
pdf format.
November 13, 2002--Facing a possible
mayoral veto, the Eugene City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday to remove portions dealing with
gender identity from proposed changes to the city's human rights code. See Oregon
Daily Emerald Story.
November 1, 2002--Chicago anti-bias code to
add transgender. See Chicago
Tribune Story. See
Illinois Gender Advocates Home Page. Click here for the ordinance text in
pdf format.
October 23, 2002--Boston City Council
Passes Transgender Rights Ordinance, Mayor Expected to Sign. See the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
press release. Text of ordinance here
(off site pdf)
September 26, 2002: News Release--Transgender Equality: A few steps forward, one step back.
2002 has been a banner year for transgender equality...Read on.
August 06, 2002: FOXNews.com--"Transgender
Law Making Strides:" Transgender rights law – that is protecting the rights of
people whose identity does not match the genitalia they were born with – has exploded
in the field and in the political arena, becoming a new wave of civil rights in this
country, according to experts...Read the whole story on off site
link.
June 15, 2002--Only the Passage of a Transgender-Inclusive SONDA will
Protect Transgender and Gender Variant People from Discrimination, TLPI Press Release.
April 24, 2002- New York City Council Votes to Include
Transgender People in its Human Rights Law, TLPI Press Release. Text of
the law as passed.
May 1, 2002--New York Times editorial: Civil Rights for the
Transgendered
April 3rd, 2002--Allentown, PA includes
gender identity and ual orientation in its non-discrimination law. See
story.
February 2002--Erie County Council
passed a Human Relations Act which
includes both ual orientation and gender identity.
November 2001--Denver, Colorado, Huntington
Woods, Michigan and Multnomah County, Oregon pass transgender-inclusive
non-discrimination laws.
September 2001--Suffolk County, New York, passes
non-discrimination law that includes transgender people.
July 13, 2001--Rhode Island becomes the
second state in the U.S. to protect transgender people from discrimination.
Click here
for joint press release from the Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and RI
Alliance for Lesbian Civil Rights. Click here to read the actual law (off site).
July 3, 2001--Another hurdle passed for
TG civil rights in California: CA Senate Committee votes in favor of trans rights bill. See SF
Chronicle story.
May 16, 2001--Rochester City
Council passes transgender-inclusive law banning discrimination in housing, public
accommodations and employment based on ual orientation, and other categories.
October 11, 2000--Transpeople removed
from California Disability Law Exclusions. See Minter/Green
press release.
October 5, 2000--Hilary Rodham Clinton
comes out against including gender identity and expression in ENDA: "Well no one
who’s a leader in the gay and lesbian community has asked me to [push for the
inclusion of transgender people.]"
August 29, 2000--New York Times
editorial, "Transgender Rights," comes out strongly in favor of the proposal
of a bill to amend the New York City's Human Rights law to include transgender
people. Read the editorial.
June 23, 2000--Second
transgender-inclusive amendment introduced in Congress. See NCLR/NGLTF press release.
March 1, 2000--Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA)
introduced an historic resolution in the US Congress, focusing on international human
rights violations based on ual orientation and gender identity. Amnesty
International USA Outfront urges people to write in support of H. CON. R. 259.
(This is the first time that gender identity has included, in an affirmative sense, in
federal legislation.) See
Outfront's instructions for writing in support of the bill.
Back to top
Litigation
August 19, 2006--Boston, MA. Transgendered
inmates push for state-funded -change surgery...."People often have a knee-jerk
reaction that public money shouldn't be spent on this," said Shannon Minter, a board
member of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. "If people are not treated, they
suffer tremendously," said Minter. "It's just as cruel to withhold treatment for
gender identity disorder as it is to withhold treatment for any other medical issue."
USA today
story here.
January 25, 2006--Washington, DC--IRS disallows a woman's tax
deduction for SRS - citing teachings in a Catholic religious journal as a basis for its
decision. See report by Lynn Conway here.
See web CPA article here.
October 27, 2005--New York, NY--Transgender plaintiffs charge bias; bar alleges
“shakedown." In a lawsuit filed October 19 in State Supreme Court in Manhattan,
three plaintiffs, including two transgendered women, charge that on at least three
occasions this year, Splash Bar New York, the West 17th Street gay establishment, denied
or attempted to deny entry to women on Saturday evenings, which the club promotes as
Men’s Night. Read rest of Gay City News story here.
October 21, 2005--From the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights and AIDS Projects--This
Friday, October 21, ABC's 20/20 will run a story on Diane Schroer at 10:00 PM EDT.
Diane has an amazing story. A retired Army Special Forces Colonel, Diane accepted a
job researching terrorism for the Library of Congress, only to have the offer rescinded
when she told her supervisor that she is transgender. Talking to the American
public about gender identity discrimination is a significant challenge. We hope
Diane's story will be a bit of help in changing that. Diane's long and distinguished
record of service in the military over 25 years makes what the Library of Congress did
seem particularly unfair, even to people who are usually difficult for us to reach.
That the government chose this moment to toss aside expertise on counterterrorism only
makes the situation more absurd. Nobody makes the case better than Diane
herself. As she put it in a speech this summer, "...for 26 years I went into
every godforsaken hell-hole anyone could conceive of, without so much as a whimper--Port
Au Prince, Mogadishu, Kinshasa...only to be told I was not good enough to work for the
federal government..." We are hoping Diane and her case against the Library of
Congress will advance the national conversation on gender identity. The print
version of the 20/20 segment is online here: More information about her
case is available from the ACLU here.
March 30, 2005--New York, NY--New
York Appeals Court Dismisses Transgender Bathroom Lawsuit. Story here.
March 25, 2005--Cincinatti, OH--Sixth Circuit upholds officer's TG
discrimination award; Court says again: 1964 Civil Rights Act includes transgender and
some gay bias. Gay Peoples Chronicle story here.
Gay City News story here.
anuary 29, 2005--Cleveland, OH--Cleveland--A transgender man and his
partner have filed complaints against a soft drink bottling company for on-the-job
harassment that eventually led to both of them being fired. The case is one of the first
to use a 2004 court ruling for transgender firefighter Jimmie Lee Smith of Salem that
extends the protection of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to transgenders, gays and lesbians if
it involves -stereotyping. Here.
January 27, 2005--Concord, NH--AP Wire story, Gay Marriage Becomes
Transual Issues. Here.
December 31, 2004--Allentown, PA--Transgendered guard gets new job
rights; she has same duties as other women working at Carbon prison. Here.
December 30. 2004--New York, NY--Argentinean trans woman gains U.S.
refuge after years of activism at home. Here.
December 29, 2004--Salem, OH--Transgender Firefigher Settles Suit Out
of Court. A federal lawsuit that extended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect
transgender people from stereotyping discrimination on the job ended when firefighter
Jimmie Lee Smith and the city of Salem settled out of court. Here.
December 24, 2004--Sioux City, IA--Trans
woman settles discrimination lawsuit. Here.
December
2, 2004--San Francisco, CA--Man who wed transual faces exile: The Filipino
husband of an American transgender woman has been pulled off the citizenship track because
of his wife's identity and may be deported if he is unable to convince a federal court to
step in. Story here.
November 2004--Deakin Law Review focuses
on the jurisprudence of transualism. Here.
November 29, 2004--Los Angeles--A lawsuit
filed against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services alleges the agency
discriminated against a Filipino couple when it denied the husband's legal residency
because his wife had a change operation nearly 24 years ago. AP Wire story here.
November 16, 2004--Leavenworth, KA--Court
dismisses charges against transual woman prosecuted for "gender fraud." A
Leavenworth Superior Court Judge dismissed all charges against Sandy Gast, a transgender
woman who was brutally taken from her home, incarcerated, and prosecuted for the
"crime" of living her life as a woman. See TLPI/TLC/NCTE Press release here.
Sept. 15. 2004--Los Angeles, CA--Appeals
Court Overturns Deportation Order Of Tortured Transual: A preoperative transual who
fled El Salvador after she was beaten and raped was given a reprieve Tuesday from
deportation. Gay.com story here.
August 20, 2004--New Jersey--Federal
Appellate court rules a school failed to provide a "free appropriate public
education" to a student who suffered homophobic and gender stereotyping harassment.
In pdf here.
July 28, 2004--Alabama--Federal appeals court finds
ban on the sale of toys in Alabama constitutional. Decison here in PDF.
July 23, 2004--Florida--Florida
Court of Appeal Invalidates Marriage But Rejects Mother’s Request to Deprive
Transgender Father of Parental Rights. The Florida Court of Appeal issued a decision today
in a marriage and custody case involving Michael Kantaras, a transual man who married a
woman in Florida and had two children with her. When Michael petitioned for divorce, his wife asked
the court to invalidate their marriage and to strip Michael of any parental rights, based
solely on his transgender status. After a
three week trial in 2002, which was televised on Court TV, the trial court held that
Michael is legally male, the marriage was valid, and awarded primary custody to Michael. The trial court’s decision – which
surveyed all of the existing legal and medical literature on transualism, and which
ultimately exceeded 800 pages in length -- received national attention. Release is
here in PDF or visit the NCLR web page for the joint NCLR/Equality Florida full
release.Decision here.
June 16, 2004--Houston, TX--Many stories about a
marriage case involving a trans woman. Houston Chronicle here;
Houston webzine here, with background stories at the bottom. KHOU story here; AP story here. Seems that most of the reporters haven't read the AP Style guide on
covering trans people.
June 8, 2004--Des Moines, IA--Fired
Transual Worker in Iowa Sues. Here.
June 2, 2004--Philadelphia, PA--City
settles suit over transual's death; The family of entertainer Nizah Morris gets
$250,000. Here.
June 1, 2004--Ohio--Sixth Circuit holds that Title
VII applies to transgender people, based on their reading of Price Waterhouse, but later
amends their decision to narrow its holdings. Read amended version here. Read the full
original decision here in PDF.
May 27, 2004--New York, NY--The lawyer for
a Jackson Heights landlord who gave a Latino AIDS clinic the boot after transgendered
clients turned up in the womens restrooms argued last week that the group is not a
protected minority under state law and its case should be thrown out. Here.
April 23, 2004--VERMONT ATTORNEY GENERAL ISSUES
LANDMARK RULING PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TRANSGENDER EMPLOYEES; Former Hardwick,
Vt. Police Officer Settles Claim Against Town After Atty. General Finds Probable Cause He
Was Fired Because He Is Transgender. See GLAD press release here.
April 16, 2004--Hayward, CA--Family says
transgender teen was not deceitful. Here. Also see "Defense calls transgender victim guilty of
'deception and betrayal' " here.
April 7, 2004--Michigan--ACLU pushes for transgender
rights. Here.
March 21, 2004--Leavenwork, Kansas--Transual
faces charge of falsely obtaining marriage license. Here
and longer story here.
February 28, 2004--Cincinatti, OH--Transual Police
Officer Receives Additional Settlement; City Attorney Plans To Appeal Decision. Here.
February 24, 2004--Wyoming--Federal Judge
says Wyoming prison violated due process rights of interual woman. Here.
February 6, 2004--San Francisco, CA--Transual
claims city shelter mistreatment. here.
February 2, 2004--Portland, OR--Gym
Cancels Membership After Discovering Woman is Transgendered. Here and here.
January 29, 2004--New York, NY--NY Lawyers
Won for Transuals, But Can They Win a Paycheck? New York Lawyer story here.
January 2, 2004--Vancouver, BC--Court
Rules Rape Center Did Not Discriminate In Refusing TG Volunteer. Here.
Decision here.
December 31, 2003--Trumbull County, Ohio--Decision
Made in Transual Marriage Case. Here.
December 19, 2003--Rochester, NY--School policy
shields transgendered. Story
here.
December 5, 2003--Houston, TX-- change
focus of child custody case. Here.
December 2, 2003--New York, NY--Sylvia Rivera Law Project Wins Transgender
Woman's Name Change Case. Decision here in
PDF, SRLP brief here in
PDF. See also Art Leonard's Gay City News story here;
NY Lawyer story here
and Newsday story here and hostile (of course) NY Post story here.
November 28, 2003--Casper, Wyoming--Douglas
hermaphrodite sues Corrections Department. A transgendered woman has sued the state
Department of Corrections over her 14-month sentence at the Wyoming Women's Center. Here.
November 28, 2003--Washington, DC--Trans
woman reports ual assault in D.C. male cellblock. Incident prompts police to consider
changing record system. Here.
November 26, 2003--Miami, FL--A Mexican
[trans woman] ]seeking asylum who was ually abused by a guard at the Krome detention
center in May 2000 has accepted $95,000 to settle a lawsuit against the federal
government. Here.
November 26, 2003--Concord, NH--Transual
Prisoner Sues For Treatment; Hormone Therapy Interrupted By Prison Sentence. Here and
here.
November 6, 2003--New York, NY--Sylvia Rivera Law Project Wins Transgender
Woman's Name Change Case. Decision here in
PDF, SRLP brief here in
PDF. See also Art Leonard's Gay City News story here
and NY Lawyer story here.
November 20, 2003--Wyoming--Girls ejected
from dance; ACLU protests. Here.
October 2003--Tronetti v. TLC Healthnet,
a Title VII complaint involving a pre-operative trans person.
November 18, 2003--Massachusetts: In an
historic decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that gay and
lesbian couples can no longer be excluded from obtaining civil marriages in Massachusetts.
The 4-3 ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, filed by New England's Gay
& Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, is the first of its kind in this country by a
final appellate court. For up-to-date information, visit Gay & Lesbian Advocates &
Defenders website here.
November 12, 2003--Allentown, PA--Transgendered
podiatrist alleges discrimination. Here.
October 27, 2003--New York, NY--BIAS IN
THE BATHROOM: CASE FOR TRANSGENDER RIGHTS. A groundbreaking lawsuit challenges assumptions
about gender and demands fair treatment for all. Here.
October 24, 2003--New York, NY--Lavender
Law Coverage of Trans Issues from the Washington Blade. Here.
October 24, 2003--Warren, OH--May this man
marry this woman? Court hears case of couple denied marriage because the groom is
transual. Here.
October 16, 2003--Suit Against Transphobic
Landlord Moves Forward. 365gay.com story here. ACLU
press release here.
September 26, 2003--Augusta, GA--Pre-op
trans woman wins name change; Two-year ordeal spiraled `out of control', Augusta judge
says. Southern Voice story here.
September 16, 2003--Philadelphia, PA--Mother
of Slain Transual Sues. Philadelphia Inquirer story here. Planet
Out story here.
Summer 2003--American Bar Association Human Rights
Magazine: Article by Jennifer Levi, Protections for Transgender Employees here.
Article by Taylor Flynn, Protecting Transgender Families:
Strategies for Advocates here.
July 2003--Texas Bar Journal--Responsible
Representation Of Your First Transgendered Client
By Phyllis Randolph Frye and Katrina C. Rose. If a transgendered person has
not entered your law office seeking representation, in all likelihood one will soon(1) or,
perhaps, one already has and you’ve simply not been aware because the person was
closeted(2) and the case didn’t appear to directly deal with transgender law. Many
practitioners eventually will face this question: To fairly and ethically represent
transgendered clients, what special knowledge is needed? The answer is both simple and
complex. One needs the ability to dispense with personal assumptions about transgendered
people(3) and professional assumptions about transgender law. Full
article here.
July 24, 2003--Florida--Religious right
plans to appeal Kantaras v. Kantaras. See their story here.
July 18, 2003--Albany, NY--Trans Inmate
Entitled to Care; Federal judge nixes prison’s policy of treating only pre-existing
gender identity disorder. See story here.
July, 2003--Hobart, IN--Feds say
transual's rights were not violated. See story here.
July 5, 2003--College Park, MD--Employee
sues over transgender bathroom use. An employee at an IBM office on Riveredge
Parkway filed a civil lawsuit over the company allowing a transgendered employee to use
the women’s restrooms. See Southern Voice story .here
July 4, 2003--South Africa: Sacked
transual sues employer; A transgendered South African woman is suing her employer,
South African National Blood Service, for $800,000 after she claims she was ousted after
they found out she had started 'surgical proceedings' to change her . Story here.
July 4, 2003--United Kingdom. Transuals
sue pub; Six transuals are taking legal action against the landlord of the Red Lion pub
in Thorby, Northamptonshire, after they were asked to leave when one member of the party
visited the women's toilets. Story here.
June 28, 2003--New York, NY--New York
court hears transgender lawsuit. A New York landlord's claim that he was justified
in refusing to let transgendered clients with the Hispanic AIDS Forum use any of his
building's rest rooms or common areas should be rejected, the ACLU told a New York court
Friday. Advocate story here.
June 27, 2003--New York, NY--Trans
Activists Charge Harassment; Police selectively requiring ID at public bathrooms at
Christopher St. riverfront. Gay City News story here.
Sylvia Rivera Law Project here.
June 26, 2003--Washington, DC--Supreme
Court strikes down sodomy laws, reverses Bowers v. Hardwick. Read the
National Center for Lesbian Rights extensive press release here. Read CNN story here.
Read decision here in PDF.
June 15, 2003--Pennsylvania--State helping
inmate change . Story here.
June 2003--Trans Realities: A Legal Needs
Assessment of San Francisco ’s Transgender Communities. By Shannon Minter of
the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Christopher Daley of the Transgender Law
Center. In pdf here.
June 2003--Some Courtroom Concerns of the
Transgender Community, Members of the transgender community have many of the same
courtroom concerns that everyone has. We want to be respected; be heard; and be able to
understand the legal proceedings and outcomes. We are also concerned about adequate
accommodations for non-English speakers, respect of cultural differences, and elimination
of racial and economic bias. A joint publication of the Transgender Law Center and the
National Center for Lesbian Rights. In pdf here.
June 8, 2003--Lehigh Valley, PA--A
transgender woman prison guard has returned to work at Carbon County Prison after a
monthlong administrative leave, and she and officials say the return has gone smoothly. Story
here. See also earlier AP story, "Prison guard's transual move
leads to administrative leave. A prison guard who was born male but who has been
living as a woman and taking female hormones has been placed on administrative leave, but
wants to return to work" here.
May 30, 2003--New York, NY--Two
transuals were wrongfully can-canned from their jobs as go-go dancers at a Chelsea
nightclub because the owners wanted to hire "real girls," a judge ruled
yesterday. Story (it's very short) here.
May 27, 2003--Richmond, VA--Transual
Ruling Reversed: The U.S. appeals court in Richmond today said a Roanoke federal judge
should not have dismissed the case of a transual state prison inmate seeking to resume
estrogen treatments. Story here.
May 9, 2003--Warren Ohio--The judge who denied a marriage
license to a heteroual couple because one is transgender will not be heard during their
appeal. Neither will a Cincinnati anti-gay group that inserted themselves into the case.
See Gay People's Chronicle story here.
May 1, 2003--Philadelphia, PA--Maybe this
is the ultimate insult for Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.: A panel discussing gay politics at
Equality Forum last night barely mentioned him. Instead a homoual man, a lesbian and a
transgender leader described "the inside game" of lobbying the Republican
controlled Pennsylvania legislature - successfully - for an inclusive anti-hate crimes
law. Philadephia Daily News story here.
April 19, 2003--Vancouver, BC--British
Columbia Ordered To Pay For TG Surgery: The British Columbia government has been ordered
to pay a transgendered man more than $125,000 (Cdn) for reassignment surgery.
Vancouver Sun story here.
April 10, 2003--Transgender UK Marriage Not Legal: A
British transgendered woman has lost the battle to have her 22-year marriage declared
legal. See story here. See Press For Change fact sheet on this case, Bellinger
v. Bellinger.
April 9, 2003--Chicago, IL--Judge Denies TG Man Custody Of
Son: A Chicago judge Tuesday ruled a transgender male cannot be granted parental
rights because same- marriages are illegal in Illinois and therefore the man was never
the boy's legitimate father. See 365gay.com story here.
April 9, 2003--San Francisco, CA--Schools must protect gay
kids, court rules. A federal appeals court in San Francisco has issued a historic
decision, holding school officials liable for failing to protect students from anti-gay
harassment. See 365gay.com story here.
See National Center for Lesbian Rights press release here.
And in another case brought by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the
American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, a federal court ruled April 4, 2003
that a lesbian student can sue school district for barring her from gym class. Release here.
March 30, 2003--Spokane, WA-- AP Story: -change
recipient claims bias in lawsuit. Read story here. See 365gay.com story here.
March 14, 2003--Warren, Ohio--Gay People's
Chronicle: A Cincinnati anti-gay group has asked a court to allow them to oppose the
appeal of a heteroual couple denied marriage because one is transual. Here.
March 13, 2003--Denver, CO--Transual Inmate Barred From
Treatments. Read the story, which most definitely did not follow the AP style guide regarding proper pronoun usage, here.
March 7, 2003--New York, NY--Lesbian Hairdresser Bias Suit
Nixed, Case highlights complexity of gender conformity, federal law. See Gay
City News Story.
February 26, 2003--Cincinatti, OH. A federal court jury awarded $320,000 to a transual
Cincinnati police officer who was demoted
from the rank of sergeant in 1999. The jury
held that the City of Cincinnati discriminated against the officer, a 22 year veteran of
the force, for failing to conform to male stereotypes while serving as a probationary
sergeant in 1999. The jury also held that the
City of Cincinnati intentionally discriminated against Ms. Barnes based on
her perceived ual orientation, gender identity or transuality. See news story. Also see
March 14, 2003 Gay People's Chronice Story on conservative group's
request for the right to intervene in a this lawsuit
here.
February 21, 2003--Clearwater Florida.
In an 800+ page decision, a Florida Judge ruled in groundbreaking case that Michael
Kantaras, a transgender man, is legally male and was legally married to his former
wife. Michael Kantaras was also awarded primary custody of the couple's two
children. July 24, 2003--Florida--Religious right plans to appeal
Kantaras v. Kantaras. See their story here.
See the press release by the National
Center for Lesbian Rights and Equality Florida.
You can read the full text of the Kantaras decision here in PDF format.
Updated in March 2003 with a Table of Contents and a four page supplement by the judge.
See GLAAD News Pop here.
See the press release from the National Lesbian
and Gay Task Force.
For background on the case, visit the Court TV web page.
Good
overview story in Gay City News by Arthur Leonard.
Planetout column by TLPI board member Jamison Green: Victory in the Kantaras Case: What Does it Mean?
February 11, 2003--In the Matter of Robert Wright Helig
(2003). Maryland Appellate court remands case back to lower court, finding the
lower court had "erred in broadly concluding, as a matter of law, that gender was not
subject to modification or adjustment," and instructing the lower court not to
dismiss a transual women's request for a new birth certificate out of hand, but to
consider medical evidence. Download pdf file offsite here.
January 16, 2003--New York, NY.
Hispanic AIDS Forum v. Estate of Joseph Bruno: Judge’s Rulings Favor Latino AIDS
Agency in Transgender Discrimination Suit. See ACLU press release.
January 1, 2003--Doe v. Bell: New York State Court
rules that the New York City Administration for Children Services violated the New York
State Human Rights Law by prohibting her from wearing skirts and dresses. See Sylvia Rivera Legal
Resource Program News Release. Read case here in PDF format.
December 2002--Mario v. P & C Food
Markets (2002) Gender Change Insurance Nixed: Federal appeals court upholds
ruling that change surgery is merely “cosmetic”. See Art Leonard
GCN story.
November 15, 2002--Transgender Win in Massachusetts;
Court finds protections based on , disability. See NYC Gay City News story.
November 15, 2002--Toys ‘R’ Us May Pay Up
After All; Transgender plaintiffs, awarded only $1, win big attorney’s fees. See NYC Gay City News story.
September 26, 2002: TLPI News
Release--Transgender Equality: A few steps forward,
one step back. 2002 has been a banner year for transgender equality...Read on.
September 24, 2002: Reuters Wire
Story--"Transvestite Settles Beauty School Lawsuit." [Not
our headline] Click
here for the off-site link.
September 17, 2002--ACLU
Criticizes Decision in Louisiana Transgendered Case, Oiler v. Winn-Dixie
July 2, 2002--Hawaii Civil Rights
Commission Accepts Transgender Bias Cases. You can read the decision in HTML here or you can
download it in RTF format offsite
here.
March 15th, 2002--Kansas State Supreme
Court declared marriage of transual woman J'Noel Gardiner invalid.
TLPI NEWS RELEASE.
Read the case here.
Kantaras
v. Kantaras:
March 4, 2002--Time Magazine,
"Transuals Who Wed." Available soon.
February 15, 2002--Equality Florida Legal
Advocacy Project Represents Transgender Father in Custody Battle Televised on Court TV
January 29, 2002--Court TV broadcasts
Kantaras v. Kantaras, a Florida custody trial in FTM Michael Kantaras's legal is at
issue. Full story.
January 23, 2002--Court TV does a story
on the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. Read it here.
November 2001--The Minnesota Supreme Court
rules against Julie Goins. Read the Minnesota
Supreme Court opinion [offsite], November 29, 2001. Go to all documents on the Goins.
October, 2001--Transgender Law
and Policy Institute Press Release: Massachusetts Commission Against
Discrimination Rules Transgender People Covered Under the Law. Read the press release. Read more information on
the decision and one of the plaintiffs involved in the November 2001 edition of Outreach News, in
PDF format.
July 3, 2001--Transgender Law and
Policy Press Release: New Jersey Appeals Court
Finds Transgender Doctor Covered by State Non-Discrimination Law. Read the
actual decision, ENRIQUEZ, M.D. v. WEST JERSEY HEALTH SYSTEMS, here.
May 11, 2000--Kansas court reverses bad
transual marriage case. Read the case off
site here.
November 30, 2000--Massachusetts
appeals court agrees: Transgender student may remain in school. And see, October
12, 2000--Brockton, MA court rules in favor of transgender student. See the GLAD press release.
November 21, 2000--Goins v. West
Publishing. State of Minnesota Court of Appeals rules that the transgender-inclusive
definition of ual orientation in Minnesota's Human Rights Act covers a transgender
woman denied use of the women's restroom in her workplace. Read the
decision here. This may be the first published opinion interpreting the
transgender aspects of this statute. See story in the Minnesota Lawyer.
November 15, 2000--Connecticut Human
Rights Commission Rules in Favor of Transgender People. See GLAD press release. Read
the decision.
August 24, 2000--HERNANDEZ-MONTIEL
v. INS: A U.S. federal court of appeals finds that a transgender gay man from Mexico
"had a well-founded fear of future persecution and was entitled to asylum and
withholding of deportation." Read
the decision online. Read the joint National
Center for Lesbian Rights/LLDEF/ACLU press release online.
August 26, 2000--"A Westerville
couple is fighting to regain custody of their 6-year-old boy, whom they said was taken by
social workers because they let the child dress and act like he's a girl." (Click
here Columbus Post
Dispatch news story.)
November 20, 1998-"New tactic takes aim at bias U.S. Justice Department using
existing laws that forbid gender discrimination," New York/Washington
Blade report. Lead: "In a significant move, the U.S. Justice Department
announced last week that it will use existing federal civil rights laws to take legal
action against businesses and state and local governments that engage in employment
discrimination against gay and transgender persons."
Back to top
Beyond the law: culture,
politics, education
March 4, 2007--Transgender
Rights, edited by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, and Shannon Price Minter
is a finalist in the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards.
July 13, 2006. Male
Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist Biologist Who Underwent Change Describes
Biases Against Women. Washington Post story online here.
January 13, 2006--Nathan Miller
and Lori Weingarten have written a guide, "Creating GLBTQIA- inclusive forms and
surveys," a resource for those creating forms, surveys or other information gathering
tools. It's an eight-page document online in pdf at http://sugroups.wustl.edu/~safezones/GLBTQIA.forms.pdf
January 5, 2006--Los Angeles,
CA--Barbie labeled a transgender activist. The notoriously antigay Christian
group Concerned Women for America has apparently found the latest warrior in a cultural
battle over transgender rights. But it's not a transgender activist fighting to make the
world a better place for future generations of youth struggling with gender identity
issues. It's a plastic doll. See the complete Advocate story here.
November 9. 2005--Washington, DC--The
Human Rights Campaign releases Transgender Americans:
A Handbook for Understanding. You can request a copy of the booklet or download
it here.
October 11, 2005--TLPI Press
release. More than 40 Colleges Now Protect the Rights of
Transgender People. See full press release here.
October 6,
2005--San Francisco, CA--Shannon Minter, a Bay Area lawyer well-known for his work in
advancing the rights of transgender people, will receive today a $100,000 Ford Foundation
award for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, where he works as the Legal
Director. This is a major national honor given yearly to community leaders ``working
against great odds to make a difference.'' Minter is a Board Member and Co-Founder
of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. Full story here. NCLR press release here.
October 7, 2005--Nebraska: Second :
Wally Bacon, a popular professor at Nebraska for 29 years, returns from summer vacation as
a woman. Chronicle
of Higher Education.
February 10, 2005--Transmissions:
[ism] No Laughing Matter. Op-ed piece by Gwendolyn Ann Smith here.
CONFERENCE
ANNOUNCEMENT - Trans Justice, Social Change, and Justice, New York City, May 6th-7th,
2005. The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) will host a national
conference, "Trans Politics, Social Change, and Justice," Friday May 6th
and Saturday, May 7th, 2005 in New York City. This conference will provide a venue to
strengthen activist and research networks, incite dialogues, share research, and create
resources central to creating social change for trans people. The conference will take
place at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where CLAGS is housed, at
365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th and 35th streets), New York, NY. For more information, click here.
January 13, 2005--Transmissions: Baby, it's a new year. Year in review
column by Gwendolyn Ann Smith. This is the time of year when newspaper columnists want to
just phone their column in. It's the holiday season, and you might rather have just one
more amaretto sour than focus on the keyboard long enough to out your thoughts into your
word processor of choice. This may be why one sees so many "year in review"
columns at the end of a year. Here.
December 30, 2004--United Kingdom--Stephen Whittle receives an OBE
(Officer of the order of the British Empire) and Christine Burns receives an MBE (Member
of the order of the British Empire), both "for services to gender issues".
December 30, 2004--New York, NY--Marine Kills Trans Prostitute in L.A.
Los Angeles police shoot and kill Iraq war veteran after he dumps body in
Hollywood. Here.
December 7, 2004--New York,
NY--Proposals due for CLAGS's conference, "Trans Politics, Social Change,
and Justice," on December 15th, 2004. For more information, go here.
November 29, 2004--Los Angeles--A lawsuit filed against
the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services alleges the agency discriminated against a
Filipino couple when it denied the husband's legal residency because his wife had a
change operation nearly 24 years ago. AP Wire story here.
Sept. 15. 2004--Los Angeles, CA--Appeals
Court Overturns Deportation Order Of Tortured Transual: A preoperative transual who
fled El Salvador after she was beaten and raped was given a reprieve Tuesday from
deportation. Gay.com story here.
August 23, 2004-Washington, DC--Coalition
Creates U.S. Transgender Health Priorities Primer: Comprehensive Document Begins to
Address Thirteen Health Disparities Among Population. The National Coalition for
Lesbian, Gay, Biual, and Transgender Health, in an effort to address health disparities
among the transgender population, has compiled "An Overview of U.S. Trans Health
Priorities." Priorities here in PDF.
See the Coalition page here.
August 21, 2004--San Franciso, CA--Vigil
planned for slain woman; Activist calls killing a case of prejudice against transgenders. Here.
Summer 2004--TLPI Board Member Jamison
Green's Becoming A Visible Man published by Vanderbilt University Press. "When the premier trans-activist of a generation decides to
write a memoir, we should be grateful. When Jamison Green weaves his personal and
political experiences into a magnificent story it is all the more reason to
celebrate. Becoming a Visible Man shows why he is a leading voice to a
generation of transmen and transwomen and why this issue should be on the top of the
agenda for all of us in the 21st century." --Henry Rubin, author of Self-Made Men.
"...smart, accessible and always compassionate take on
transgender identity, desire, and political activism. A terrific blend of theory and
personal narrative, Becoming a Visible Man should top any and all Gender Studies
reading lists." --Kate Bornstein, author of My Gender Workbook.
"Intelligent and engaging book. ...an
extraordinary writer." --Joanne Meyerowitz, author of How Changed: A
History of Transuality in the United States.
Ask for it at any bookstore. More information here. More
information here.
August 16, 2004--Transgender athletes
remain invisble at Olympics. Despite their recently won right to compete in the
Olympics, no one seems to know of any transgender athletes who will be participating in
the summer games, which kicked off this weekend in Athens, Greece. See UKgay.com here.
August 16, 2004--Hartford, CT--Colleges
offer gender-blind housing option for students. The idea that college students
should have to live with roommates of the same gender is ridiculous to Paige Kruza. For
starters, she says gender is not as simple as male and female. "It started in the
days that same-, all-male colleges existed," Kruza said. More here.
August 2004, MA--New report by Dr. Jillian
Todd Weiss, "The Cutting Edge
of Employment Diversity: Transgender Human Resources Policies in U.S. Employers"
July 22,
2004--Istanbul, Turkey. Trans Eastern Conference 2005. The first
ever Middle Eastern Transual Conference will be held in Istanbul Turkey in March
of 2005. On hand we hope to have Trans Activists from around the world to give
us advice and motivation. More information here.
July 17, 2004--New York, NY--Amnesty
USA action for Transgender Critical Resistance member. Responding to the New York City
Police's raid on Nov. 16, 2003, in which police beat and arrested queer and trans
activists of color at a Critical Resistance gathering. Find out more, and take
action: here
July 16, 2004--Atlanta, GA--`Trans-panic' claims a
life; We deserve better than a hung jury swayed by hurtful arguments that Gwen Araujo
somehow deserved to die. Gwen Smith's column here.
June 23, 2004--Hayward, CA--The
jurors talk: Araujo decision isn't a win for defense [trans-panic] strategy. Here.
June 22, 2004--Hayward, CA--ARAUJO CASE ENDS IN
MISTRIAL; Remembering Our Dead Project Urges Retrial on All Counts. Judge Harry
Sheppard ruled a mistrial in the murder case of Gwen Araujo, declaring that the jury is
"hopelessly deadlocked." The Remembering
Our Dead project urges the District Attorney's office to retry this case in the
pursuit of justice. "One may hope that the District Attorney retries this case,"
said founder Gwen Smith. "To think that these men could end up in a plea
bargain for a reduced sentence -- or worse yet, released back into society -- only angers
me." Gwen Araujo was a 17-year-old transgender teenager who was murdered in Newark,
California in October of 2002. Evidence presented during the trial indicated that she was
brutally beaten and strangled over a period of several hours before her body was driven
150 miles from the scene of the murder and deposited in a shallow grave. The jury
deliberated over parts of ten days, and had indicated that they were in trouble once
before today. That led to a read-back of several key sections of testimony as well as a
rereading of the instructions covering murder and manslaughter charges. It is widely
speculated that the issue of "transgender panic" raised by the defense may have
played a pivotal part in this outcome. In this defense, it is assumed that it would be
"reasonable" behavior to murder a person -- assuming you had been intimate with
them -- when you discover that person is transgendered. This defense is similar to the
"gay panic" defense used in trials such as that of Matthew Sheppard, and it
widely decried by gay and transgender activists as "blaming the victim."
"Would we be seeing this sort of outcome if Gwen Araujo was not transgendered,"
Smith said, "or is this another example of transgender lives being devalued? Is it
still 'ok' to murder a transgender person?"
June 22, 2004--New York, NY-Transmale Nation:
Remaking manhood in the genderqueer generation. Village Voiced piece here. See Sel
Whang's letter to the editor in response to this piece here.
June 18, 2004--Washington, DC--HRC releases a
toolkit, "Transgender Issues in the Workplace: A Tool for Managers." Download
here in PDF.
June 17, 2004--Saudi Arabia--Gender correction for
Saudi girls; Five sisters in Saudi Arabia are having operations to become men. Here.
June 17, 2004--Richmond, VA--Tough
transitions; Transgendered people decry health-care barriers. Here.
June 14, 2004--San Francisco, CA--Olympics'
transgender quandary; Debate rages on the fairness of new inclusion rule. Here.
June 11, 2004--Building Blocks Productions
Premieres New Transgender Video, "How To Serve Transgender Clients Where They
Are." In partnership with the Maryland AIDS Administration, Building Blocks
Productions and DiversityWorks Multimedia have produced a video to help health and human
service providers better serve transgender clients. The video is the foundation of a
training workshop being offered to local agencies that want to do a better job at serving
transgender clients. Short release here. For more information on the video and the premier, contact
Patricia of Building Blocks Television at 410-363-3680.
June 10, 2004--Arizona--Flee, Shrekkies! 'She' is
Larry King!: Shrek 2, corrupter of youth. That's the pronouncement from the Traditional
Values Coalition, via MSN's the Scoop column. According to the group, the animated Mike
Myers hit - which skewers the Brothers Grimm and all their fairy-tale ilk - is bombarding
America's children with subversive "transgender" images. Arizona Republic story
continues here.
June 8, 2004--The Cutting Edge: Why some doctors are
moving away from performing surgery on babies of indeterminate gender. Slate article
here.
April 9, 2004--Philadelphia, PA--Trans
culture is rising. There is a sea change going on. A paradigm shift, if you will. Every
day, my in box is flooded by news articles about the state of gender variance in the
world, from articles about Eunuchs in India trying to take political power and create a
legal "third " definition, to Atlanta hiring a specialist to handle crimes
against lesbian, gay, biual and transgender individuals. By Gwendolyn Ann Smith. Here.May 29, 2004--New York, NY--Trans Lawyer onored By New
York Law School. Shannon Minter one of the leading attorneys battling for LGBT families in
American was awarded an honorary degree Friday from the City University of New York School
of Law. Here.
May 28, 2004--New York, NY--Trans protection
compromised? Two years after law was passed, commission still has no guidelines. Here.
May 29, 2004--New York, NY--Trans Lawyer Honored By
New York Law School. Shannon Minter one of the leading attorneys battling for LGBT
families in American was awarded an honorary degree Friday from the City University of New
York School of Law. Here. and another picture from Gay City News here.
May 27, 2004--New York, NY--The lawyer for
a Jackson Heights landlord who gave a Latino AIDS clinic the boot after transgendered
clients turned up in the womens restrooms argued last week that the group is not a
protected minority under state law and its case should be thrown out. Here.
May 26, 2004--New York, NY--New York Times To
Protect Trans Workers From Discrimination. Here.
May 18, 2004--Transuals will be allowed
to compete in the Olympics for the first time in a ruling that will go into effect at this
year's games in Athens. CNN here
and the BBC here. Other views: the Baptist Press here, the
Washington Times here.
April 2004--Article recently published in a major HR
magazine tells corporate HR folks
how to best deal with TG employees and TG job applicants. Here in pdf.
April, 18, 2004--San Francisco, CA--Singing the
gospel of Transcendence: Nation's first all-transgender gospel choir raises its voices to
praise God and lift their own feelings of self-love and dignity. Here.
April 16, 2004--Hayward, CA--Family says
transgender teen was not deceitful. Here. Also see "Defense calls transgender victim guilty of
'deception and betrayal' " here.
April 16, 2004--New York, NY--Gender-
bender teen shot in B'klyn. Here.
April 16, 2004--Houston, TX--Keeping
Montrose streets safe; When the moon comes up, volunteers take to the streets to keep
transgender prostitutes safe. Here
April 14, 2004--Indiana--Transgender woman
shares stories. Here.
April 14, 2004--Michigan--Series explores
transgender health. Here.
April 2004--"Aronson Films is seeking subjects
for a documentary being produced with the involvement and support of Deep Stealth
Productions. The film explores the extremely high incidence of violence perpetrated
against transgendered women and asks the question: Why does it happen?" Here.
April 5, 2004--Rapid City, DS--Rapid City Alderman
Pursues Change. here.
April 4, 2004--Texas--The Rainbow Connection: Gays,
Transpeople and The Future. Here.
March 26, 2004--Ann Arbor, MI--Library opens
transgendered collection. Here.
March 26, 2004--Arizona--Arizona State University
has revised its nondiscrimination policy to include "gender identity," making it
the fourth public university to extend such protections to transgender students and
employees. Story here.
Policy here.
March 26, 2004--Traditional Values
Coalition: Transgender Marriage is Coming!. Here.
March 25, 2004--Syracuase, NY--Making a
change: A transgender person talks about the challenges of making the transition from male
to female. Here.
March 21, 2004--Leavenwork, Kansas--Transual
faces charge of falsely obtaining marriage license. Here
and longer story here.
March 21, 2004--New York--"Teen
dressed as a woman shot in Brooklyn." Here.
December 19, 2003--Rochester, NY--School policy
shields transgendered. Story
here.
December 6, 2003--Lansing, MI--Michigan
State bans harassment based on gender identity but not discrimination. Story here.
December 5, 2003--Olympics to allow
transuals to participate Panel lifts ban on post-surgery trans athletes. Southern Voice
story here;
November 28, 2003--Washington, DC--Trans
woman reports ual assault in D.C. male cellblock. Incident prompts police to consider
changing record system. Here.
November 26, 2003--Chicago, IL--U Panel
calls for neutral bathrooms. For most people, deciding which bathroom to use in the
Regenstein Library does not require mental gymnastics. But for some, a trip to the
restroom is less simple, with gay, lesbian, and transgendered students worried about the
implications of which bathrooms they enter. Student paper here; right wing story here;
Sun Times story here.
November 26, 2003--2003 exceeds others in
transgender killings. Here.
November 25, 2003--Chicago, IL--University
investigates ethics of researcher. Northwestern University is investigating charges of
ethics violations by a psychology professor whose federally funded research has been
criticized by House Republicans. Here.
November, 2003--Beyond the Women's
Room: Public restrooms. Rather mundane. Not much to think about — unless one is
transgendered, genderqueer, a butch woman, a feminine man, or otherwise does not subscribe
to rigid gender norms. Then, going to the bathroom in public becomes a daily struggle. By
Dylan Vade in Nerve Magazine here. See also an interview with Leslie Feinberg here.
November 14, 2003--San Francisco, CA--
Police panel alters transgender rules: The Police Commission has approved new guidelines
on how police will deal with transgender suspects, including banning officers from using
strip searches alone to determine a person's gender. Here.
November 13, 2003--Boston, MA--Closed
doors still greet trans people; Despite protections, finding a home can be a challenge. Here.
November 13, 2003--IOC OK transual
athletes in Olympics: Athletes who have undergone change operations will be eligible
to compete in the Olympics for the first time under new rules being finalized by the IOC. Here.
November 13, 2003--Transgender Day of
Remembrance to be Observed Across the Country. Here.
November 10, 2003-- New York, NY--NY
Paralegal Raises First Amendment In Battle for 'Queer' Name. Here.
November 9, 2003--San Francisco, CA--Reuters,
Transuals new focus of companies' legal protection. here.
October 30, 2003--Iowa City, IA--Group
asks for gender-neutral restrooms, dorms; A University of Iowa student group is lobbying
school officials for gender-blind restrooms and dorm floors on campus. Here.
October 24, 2003--New York, NY--Lavender
Law Coverage of Trans Issues from the Washington Blade. Here.
October 24, 2003--Alabama--University of
Alabama faculty votes to prohibit antigay [and anti-trans]
discrimination. Here.
October 23, 2003--Long Island City, NY--Changing
Gender Without Changing Jobs. Women's ENews story here.
October 23, 2003--Lake Oswego, OR--Lake
Oswego extends rights for ual minority [including transgender] groups. Here.
October 23, 2003--New York, NY--Trans Man
Leads Gay Studies Center. Gay City News here.
October 16, 2003--Portland, OR--Reuters
Report About the UCLA "Brain " Study Baseless. By the Inter Initiative,
Portland. Here.October
9, 2003--New Haven, CT--Stryker shares queer journey. Here.
October 8, 2003--San Antonio, TX--Bexar
Co. Sheriff's Dept. Promotes Transual; Lunan Is Highest-Ranking Woman In Law
Enforcement Division, here.
October 3, 2003--Washington, DC--Transual
terrorism: The Department of Homeland Security is warning that cross-dressing terrorists
may be infiltrating, but is that threat a real one? Op-Ed by Gwen Smith here.
September, 2003--Trans men and dating on
the NPR show, "This American Life." "If men are from Mars and women
are from Venus, when you switch from one planet to another, what do you need to know about
love? We hear from several men who've done exactly that. They were born as women, became
men with the help of modern medical science, and had to re-learn how to love on the other
side of the gender line. Griffin Hansbury reports." Click
here and scroll down to Episode 247 to listen to it with RealPlayer, (22 minutes
long.)
September 24, 2003--Jamison Green's Planet Out
Column: Who Loves Ya, Baby? The marriage between G, L, B and T interests has not
always been a happy one, but trans activists have been working very hard for over a decade
now to ensure that relations between our camps are constructive and mutually supportive.
So I was quite surprised and dismayed to see Riki Ann Wilchins' opinion piece in the
September 2 issue of The Advocate magazi | |
