Transgender Issues

Discrimination

Transgender Issues

Transgender Equality Virginia believes in a truly inclusive commonwealth where all are equally welcomed and valued, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Background

Transgender issues are among the least understood issues the GLBT community faces. A transgender identity may encompass any level of gender variance, from cross-dressing to living life completely in a gender that does not align with the sex that an individual may have been assigned at birth. What is important to understand is that “gender” is separate from “sexuality” or “sexual orientation”; gender is made up of multiple components including gender identity and gender expression. Some of the most important aspects of gender are described below.

Important Terms

Biological Sex: Most people are not “perfectly male” or “perfectly female”. Many of us have characteristics which fall outside the supposed norms. For example, many biological women have facial hair or broad shoulders and many biological men have small hands or high voices.
Gender Identity: This is a person’s sense of his or her own gender, internally. Specifically, it is seeing oneself as male, female, or falling somewhere in-between on the gender spectrum. It is not always expressed externally.
Gender Expression: This can include clothing choices, speech patterns and word choice, hairstyle, gestures, hobbies, how a person walks, cosmetic choices, name choice, etc.
Sexual Orientation: Sexual orientation is distinct from gender identity. For example, transgender people may identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or queer, just to name a few.
Other Components of Gender: Gender is complex, and it is important to remember that an individual's identity and expression is also affected by their language, ethnicity, and culture, among other things.

Virginia Law

Virginia law does not include protections against workplace discrimination or hate violence based on either sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. While the Governor's Executive Order - applicable only to state employees - includes sexual orientation among the classes protected from discrimination, it does not include gender identity or expression. In addition, the Attorney General of Virginia has issued a formal opinion calling even this limited protection into question.

Individuals who undergo gender reassignment are eligible to secure birth certificates and identification materials in their chosen gender. This process is generally only available to those who have access to health care, especially surgery. Such access can be very difficult and expensive to obtain due to discrimination and the fact that transgender-related healthcare is rarely covered by insurance.

Federal Law

Federal Law In a major development for transgender rights in the workplace, a federal court has ruled that Title VII bars discrimination against a male to female transgender person based on sex stereotyping. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Diane Schroer in a case against the Library of Congress, described the case this way in its press release:

The lawsuit charged that the Library of Congress unlawfully refused to hire Schroer in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against sex discrimination in the workplace. The Library of Congress moved to dismiss the case several times, claiming that transgender people are not covered under Title VII of 1964. After a trial last month, the court rejected those arguments and ruled that the Library illegally discriminated against Schroer in violation of Title VII. The court's decision indicated that the next step in the case will be further proceedings to determine the appropriate remedies for this discrimination. Those remedies may include ordering the Library of Congress to hire Schroer, award back pay for the wages she lost or provide monetary compensation for the injury caused by discrimination.

For more information, read the ACLU's case profile.

Community Resources

Download Transgender Newsletter Winter 2008, Fall 2007
Gender Education and Advocacy, http://www.gender.org/
Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, http://www.gpac.org/
International Foundation of Gender Education, http://www.ifge.org/
International Journal of Transgenderism, http://www.symposion.com/ijt/index.htm
National Center for Transgender Equality, http://www.nctequality.org/
National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, http://thetaskforce.org/issues/transgender
NCLR Transgender Law, http://www.nclrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issue_transgender
Transgender Training and Advocacy, http://www.tgtrain.org/
TransProud, Transgender Youth, http://www.transproud.com/

Resources for Transgender-Identified Individuals

Female-to-Male International Inc., http://www.ftmi.org/
Intersexed Society of North America, http://www.isna.org/
TransgenderCare, http://www.transgendercare.com/

Gender Identity in the Workplace, Shelters, and Schools

Gender Public Advocacy, http://www.gpac.org/workplace/
“Making Women’s Shelters Accessible to Transgender Women”, http://www.queensu.ca/humanrights/tap/index.html
NCTE- Homelessness in the Transgender Community, http://www.nctequality.org/Issues/Homelessness.asp
“Quick Steps You Can Take to Move Your School Beyond the Binary” Transgender Workplace Trainings: http://www.gpac.org/workplace/trainings.html

Area Support Resources

Below is a list of resources that are more local to Virginia and Metro Washington, DC. There are groups for social, advocacy, or educational purposes; some groups have support meetings for Transgender people and their significant others.