2014 a Transgender Year in Review — Part 1
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2014 was on balance a very good year for transgender people in America. As a trans activist there was much to celebrate for our movement and even the most negative happenings gave hope for a silver lining and future progress. Personally, there was an embarrassment of riches in recognition and awards that give me an added incentive and I hope an incentive for other transgender people, especially our younger activists to keep pushing for equality and societal respect in a bold yet measured and responsible way. In Part 1, I will concentrate on events on a National level that affected transgender equality.
In April, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) issued guidance which makes clear that the federal Title IX law prohibits discrimination against transgender students. The guidance, from the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), states: “Title IX’s sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity and OCR accepts such complaints for investigation.” This announcement was a huge breakthrough for transgender students and made it clear that trans students can seek protection from the DOE and the courts if the schools fail in their responsibility to ensure that they are safe and respected. (Recent research indicates that 4 out of 5 transgender students feel unsafe at school).
Actions later in the year indicated that the DOE was in fact enforcing the new policy! Walking the walk!
After it became obvious that Speaker Boehner would not allow the bi-partisan Employment Non discrimination ACT (ENDA) which had passed out of the Senate by a 64-32 vote in the fall of 2013, President Barack Obama announced in late June at the White House Pride reception that he would be signing an executive order protecting transgender federal workers from discrimination and prohibits anti-LGBT discrimination for employers that work with the federal government as contractors or subcontractors. On July 21, 2014, I was present at the White House to witness and celebrate President Obama signing the executive order extending gender identity and sexual orientation employment protections to 28 million workers across the country.
The executive order aims to fill gaps between Title VII sex discrimination protections and a handful of state laws that ban anti-LGBT discrimination. Today, only 18 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have gender identity employment non-discrimination laws on the books.
NCTE reissued two resources to help transgender workers understand their employment protections. The first is “Employment Discrimination and Transgender People,” a broader employment guide for transgender people that outlines existing workplace protections —including the new executive order for federal contractors— and explains how transgender people can advocate for their employment rights through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The second is “Transgender Federal Employees: Your Workplace Rights,” which explains how the executive order bolsters their Title VII sex discrimination protections.
Walking the walk, In August, the Department of Labor (DOL) sent guidance to the 200,000 federal contractors saying they may not discriminate against transgender workers. They clarified that that sex discrimination laws extend to individuals discriminated against based on their gender identity or “transgender status” and that this will be in force even before the President’s Executive order adding “gender identity” protections is fully implemented. DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs will oversee compliance with these newest guidelines.
In 2012, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under the leadership of Chai Feldblum has interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to prohibit anti-transgender bias. In September, 2014 the EEOC for the first time used the 1964 Civil Rights Act to file federal lawsuits against two companies for discrimination against transgender people.
On May 30, 2014, an independent board within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today ruled that a Medicare policy from 1989 that categorically excluded transition-related medical procedures, regardless of medical need, is unreasonable and invalid based on today’s medical science. Medicare can no longer arbitrarily exclude medically supported treatments for trans people!
Learn more about how this ruling affects transgender people in our Fact Sheet on Medicare Coverage of Transition-Related Care.
In May, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stated on network TV News that the Department of Defense should review the military’s policies that prohibits open transgender military service. Current military medical regulations automatically disqualify transgender recruits and require the discharge of service members found to be transgender. This old policy based on ignorance brands all transpeople with a societal stigma.
In a sign of positive hope December — Secretary of the Air Force, Deborah Lee James, came out in support of lifting the military’s ban on transgender service.
July — Following persistent questions over the course of more than two years, the Labor Department announced on Tuesday that it’s set to extend employment non-discrimination protections under current policy to transgender workers.
In a blog post on Monday, June 30 …Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced his department is set to prepare guidance to make clear that anti-trans discrimination is discrimination based on sex.
“As we celebrate Pride month and approach the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the Labor Department is reaffirming its commitment to equal opportunity for all,” Perez said. “That’s why we are updating enforcement protocols and anti-discrimination guidance to clarify that we provide the full protection of the federal non-discrimination laws that we enforce to transgender individuals.”
Although the violence agaist transpeople continued to rise in 2014, more and more people were made aware and and the number of observances of Transgender Day of Remembrance and Transgender Days and Weeks of Awareness continued to grow.
The tragic, dramatic and highly visible suicide of Leelah Alcorn in Ohio in late December, woke up millions around the world as to the needs of transgender children as well as the harm that parents can do to the children for whom they profess love, yet ignore the reality of the childs basic identity. Fortunately, in states like my own, New Jersey, the deadly reparative therapy that her parents subjected her with is now illegal. We need a national law!
At the Golden Globe awards Sunday night January 11, 2015 writer/producer Jill Soloway stated, “This award is dedicated to Leelah Alcorn and transgender people who died too young,” was how Soloway kicked off her speech, accepting the Globe on behalf of Transparent, and invoking the memory of Leelah, the transgender teen whose suicide became a rallying point for the trans community and its allies.
It was powerful, it reached far and wide. There is hope going forward! We must never forget! We must make change!
Part 2 of 2014 in Review
Category: Legal, Transgender Community News, Transgender Politics
About the Author (Author Profile)
Babs at 76 passed away in 2019. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee, Deputy Vice Chair of the NJ Democratic State Committee and Political Director of the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of NJ. She served on the Executive Committee of Trans United 4 Obama. She has served as Vice Chair of the DNC Eastern Caucus, was President of NJ Stonewall Democrats, Co-Chair of National Stonewall Democrats Federal PAC Board, Vice-Chair of Garden State Equality, Executive Board member of National Stonewall Democrats as Chair of the DNC Relations Committee and a member of the NJ Civil Unions Review Commission.Subscribe
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