Transgender Rights

05/13/2013

A Boy Named Issak

By Issak Wolfe at 5:11pm

I am a high school senior at Red Lion Area High School in Pennsylvania. As a student who happens to be transgender, my life isn’t all that different from other students in my class, except that I came out the summer before my junior year and have been going by my male name ever since. I try hard to make good grades, work at a part –time job, and have a wonderfully supportive family and an awesome girlfriend. My high school, like any other, has a senior prom. Our prom always has a king and a queen, and every senior gets a spot on the ballot for royalty. This year was my turn to get a chance at king like every other boy in my class.

08/08/2012

Transgender Rights

Let's Be Clear: Transgender Discrimination IS Sex Discrimination

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:10pm

Recently, the ACLU and numerous allied coalition partners wrote to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to request that HHS issue guidance to make clear that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination applies to discrimination based on gender identity and sex stereotypes. The fact that someone is transgender or does not conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity should never be a barrier to accessing health care services.

06/22/2012

Title IX

Happy Big 4-0, Title IX!

On June 23rd, 1972, President Nixon signed Title IX into law. Nearly 40 years later, the passage of Title IX is viewed as an unequivocal milestone in the struggle to protect, defend and expand civil liberties. As we celebrate Title IX’s 40th birthday, it is worth reflecting on its significance, as well as on the challenges that lie ahead.

06/19/2012

LGBT News

A Jury of Your Peers – The Right to a Jury Trial Free from Discrimination

By Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:17pm

Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ) recently introduced the Juror Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 5848) to prohibit discrimination against any juror on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Congressman Rothman stated, “[t]he fact that it is still lawful for lawyers to dismiss potential jurors solely on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is wrong and has to change.” There is no rational relationship between one’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin or financial status and one’s ability to administer justice as a juror.

06/08/2012

Transgender ID

Voter Suppression is an LGBT Rights Issue – Just Ask Asher

By Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:05am

Like many Americans, Asher Schor is excited to vote this coming November. Asher was born and raised in Pittsburgh, works at a public interest law firm, and feels more motivated than ever to participate in the electoral process. But Asher is one of thousands of transgender Americans whose driver’s license and passport do not reflect his or her true gender identity. Asher received his photo ID before his transition and the official sex listed still reads “Female.” He recently joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s lawsuit against a new and particularly onerous voter ID law, and I had a chance to discuss how the new law will impact him at the polls this November. This LGBT Pride Month, it’s important to examine the ways that voter suppression efforts, like newly-enacted photo ID laws, will have a disproportionately harmful impact on those who are transgender.

05/22/2012

Transgender ID

Transgender Alaskans' Privacy Imperiled

A recent court order may not have attracted much media attention, but it is tremendously important to a few of us Alaskans. The order deals with the Department of Motor Vehicles' restrictions on changing the gender markers on driver's licenses for transgender Alaskans.

05/22/2012

Transgender Rights

Critical Transgender Concerns Awaiting Action at the Social Security Administration

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:48pm

Late last week, the ACLU joined a letter to the Social Security Administration (SSA) drafted by our coalition partners at the National Center for Transgender Equality. The letter expresses a shared concern over a lack of action from SSA on several policy matters of critical importance to transgender people and their families.

The three areas addressed in the letter include the need for an updated policy for changing gender information in SSA records; revising guidance regarding marriages involving a transgender spouse to accurately reflect state and federal law; and phasing out the use of gender data in SSA computer matching programs.

05/21/2012

Prison Rape Elimination Act

New Federal Standards Offer Unprecedented Protections to LGBTI Prisoners

By Leslie Cooper, LGBT Project at 2:25pm

Yesterday the Department of Justice (DOJ) released the long-awaited National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape. These standards – the first of their kind—create an historic opportunity to put an end to the epidemic of sexual abuse in prison, which disproportionately affects prisoners who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or have intersex conditions (LGBTI).

05/17/2012

Prison Rape Elimination Act

The Shameful Index of Prison Rape - Action on PREA Can End the Violence

By Amy Fettig, ACLU National Prison Project & Jennifer Wedekind, National Prison Project at 4:29pm

Today the Department of Justice released the long-awaited Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) regulations, representing the first time that the federal government has issued national standards to help end sexual abuse in correctional facilities. The regulations are two years late and a lot of harm has been done in their absence, but now that they’ve finally been released they can help us protect important constitutional and human rights and ensure safe and fair correctional facilities that assist prisoners in rehabilitation rather than needlessly brutalizing them. The ACLU supports the Department’s efforts to protect and prevent sexual abuse in places of detention, although we regret that immigration facilities are not yet included in these standards.

04/25/2012

Transgender Rights

EEOC Breakthrough: Anti-Transgender Discrimination Is Unlawful

By James Esseks, Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project at 4:16pm

Consider this: A person applies for a job at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives as a ballistics forensic technician, is well-qualified for the position, and is offered the job. She then tells ATF that she is transitioning from male to female. A few days later, she's told the job has been cut for budget reasons. And then she learns that the job hasn't been cut, it's simply been given to someone else, who isn't transgender.

American Civil Liberties Union