Quick Hit: Bethlehem, PA Unanimously Passes Inclusive Nondiscrimination Ordinance

Yesterday Bethlehem, Pennsylvania became the 21^st municipality in Pennsylvania to add a non-discrimination policy covering gender identity and sexual orientation in employment and public accommodations.

From the Bethlehem Patch:

The celebration in the gallery was muted but audible. Dozens of bill supporters, many of whom are members or friends of the gay and lesbian community in the Lehigh Valley, were seated and awaiting council’s decision for nearly three hours. It almost sounded like a sigh of relief.

Adrian Shanker, the Vice President of the Pennsylvania Diversity Network told NCTE:

“In a state like PA where we don’t have a statewide law protecting LGBT people, local laws have been the only recourse for people now in 21 municipalities across the state. The city of Bethlehem is no longer the largest city in the state to not protect people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Shanker coordinated the coalition effort with allies from the AARP of Pennsylvania, Equality Pennsylvania, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, 13 labor unions and local businesses, leading to a unanimous vote in the City Council. Shanker adds, “Hopefully the legislature in Harrisburg sees this and takes a stand for transgender people [...] This sends a strong message to other municipalities that if you do this, then you need to do this right.” Mayor John Callahan is expected to sign the law very soon.

Read the full story here.

Transportation Security Agency Unjustly Fired Trans Employee

Ashley Yang, a transgender woman, was fired from her job at the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) last year for expressing her female gender identity at work. Management at the TSA location where she worked in California insisted that Ashley, who lives her daily life as a woman, present as male at work. In an exclusive web series In the Life, Ashley says, “I feel female; I don’t think anybody considers me male.” The TSA disagreed and asked her to present as male every day or face termination.

When our friends at the Transgender Law Center heard about Ashley’s termination, they filed a complaint against the TSA. In a financial settlement, the TSA admitted wrongdoing and awarded Ashley with back pay, coverage for pain and suffering, and required the TSA to participate in training on workplace issues and transgender employees.

Watch the video:

Sadly, Yang’s story is not uncommon. In a study released by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 47 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming respondents said they experienced an adverse job outcome such as being fired, not hired or denied a promotion because of who they are. Over a quarter (26 percent) reported losing a job and 50 percent reported being harassed because of their gender identity.

NCTE’s Executive Director, Mara Keisling, says, “A lot of us are working with the federal government and the TSA to make sure that kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore.” Discrimination against employees on the basis of gender identity is wrong, and with continued advocacy for federal non-discrimination laws, NCTE hopes that employees like Ashley will be protected in the future.

Claim your right to equal education

When it comes to schools, as in many other areas, federal law does not yet fully protect LGBT people – yet there are some legal protections in place that many people are not aware of. The US Department of Education has authority to investigate and address bullying, harassment and discrimination against LGBT students in some circumstances. If you or someone close to you has experience bullying, harassment or discrimination in school, you can file a complaint with Department of Education. PFLAG and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) have launched a campaign to encourage students to do just that. You can find information about filing a school civil rights complaint on PFLAG’s website.

This campaign to engage students and the federal government comes on the heels of GLSEN’s tenth annual National School Climate Survey, which finds continuing threats to the safety, well being and education of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming students. NCTE urges students who have faced bullying or discrimination, and those close to them, to heed the call and file a complaint with the Department of Education today.

Victory in Employment Discrimination Case

Justin Tanis, Cole Thaler, Congressman John Lewis, Vandy Beth Glen and her friend David

Vandy Beth Glenn, represented by Lambda Legal, won her case in District Court after suing her former employer for firing her because of her transition. She worked as a legislative editor for the Georgia State Assembly, a job she enjoyed and where she put in long, dedicated hours; in 2006, she informed her supervisor that she would be transitioning from male to female.

Her supervisor spoke with Sewell Brumby, the General Assembly’s Legislative Counsel, who in 2007 fired Ms. Glenn because he felt that her transition was, according to court documents, “inappropriate, that it would be disruptive, that some people would view it as a moral issue, and that it would make Glenn’s coworkers uncomfortable.” He also said he was concerned about the reactions of Georgia state legislators, stating his belief that, “some legislators would believe that Glenn’s gender transition was immoral, unnatural, and ‘ultraliberal’.”

In 2008, Lambda Legal filed suit asserting that in firing Ms. Glenn, Mr. Brumby violated the Equal Protection clause of the constitution by treating her differently because she didn’t conform to sex stereotypes and because of her medical condition.  Late last Friday, July 2^nd, the Northern District Court of Georgia ruled that her rights were violated because she was discriminated against because she didn’t match how the Mr. Brumby felt someone born male should act. However, her claim of discrimination because of her medical condition was denied.

United States District Court Judge Richard Story in his decisions wrote, “This Court concurs with the majority of courts that have addressed this issue, finding that discrimination against a transgendered individual because of their failure to conform to gender stereotypes constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex.” He also noted that, “…avoiding the anticipated negative reactions of others cannot serve as a sufficient basis for discrimination and does not constitute an important government interest.”

In September 2009, Vandy Beth Glenn testified before Congress about the importance of passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and met with her Representative, John Lewis, who is a strong supporter of the measure.

NCTE applauds the work of Lambda Legal on this case and thanks Vandy Beth for her courage and tenacity in standing up against the discrimination she encountered. This case shows why we need to pursue legal action at the same time that we are working to pass laws that make it clear that discrimination is unacceptable in the American workplace.

You can read more about the decision from Lambda Legal.

What we’ve been up to this week

Like most weeks, NCTE’s staff and interns have been involved with a wide variety of projects and policy areas. We thought we’d just give you a quick snapshot of what we’ve been working on this week; just the highlights really, among many tasks.

Mara  Keisling, our Executive Director, spent a significant amount of time on Capitol Hill, as usual, continuing to secure votes for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and working closely with our partners on this effort. She also did work preparing for the Veterans Administration’s upcoming release of a new policy to ensure appropriate health care for transgender veterans. Mara also gave several interviews on an act of discrimination at a Denny’s restaurant in Maine and a professor in Chicago who is transitioning on the job. In addition, Mara oversees all of the policy work being done by other staff members.

Mul Kim, our Health Policy Counsel, worked with various LGBT organizations to ensure that the regulations being promulgated to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are LGBT inclusive. Additionally, she and Mara collaborated with other organizations on efforts to make changes to the Family Medical Leave Act so that it can be used by LGBT individuals during times of family emergencies or personal health issues.

Harper Jean Tobin, our Policy Counsel, did extensive work this week finalizing a memo that we are sending with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) to help inform their training of screeners so that they can more knowledgeably and respectfully treat transgender passengers at airports across the country. She also continued her work on increasing safety and respect for transgender prisoners with a meeting on the Prison Rape Elimination Act and was part of our work with the Social Security Administration (SSA) about gender markers recorded by the SSA.

Justin Tanis, who does Communications and Education, focused this week on finalizing information that the Department of Justice has requested about gender identity as part of their implementation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which will include training for law enforcement officers. Justin has been helping lead the Gender Identity Working Group that is part of the Hate Crimes Coalition. He also reworked the resource section of our website to make it more user-friendly, finished up the graphics on our annual report, spoke with several reporters writing about transgender issues, and kept our tweets and Facebook updates coming.

Stephanie White, our Managing Director, is responsible for keeping the doors open and the organization moving forward. Her work this week focused on fundraising efforts, as she had conversations with two current funders, submitted two letters of interest  and sent in a proposal for funding. She is also working on a project to increase efficiency and collaboration among LGBT groups in DC by exploring the possibility of co-locating office spaces and sharing resources like IT support, internet service, phone service, administrative support, and other overhead expenses.  Her adorable 7 ½ week old baby, Oliver, also spent a little time in the office today providing everyone the opportunity to make silly faces and enjoy his presence.

Jazmin Sutherlin, our Administrative Assistant, scheduled trainings and interviews with the media for Mara, including an appearance next week on In the Life. She also answered the calls that came into the office, worked with our tech support people and made sure that everything ran smoothly.  Jazmin performed last weekend as part of DC’s pride celebrations.

Our three interns were busy too. Tonei Glavinic is back with us this summer, this time working to create a wiki and other resources for transgender students to share about their experiences on campus. This week zie spoke with advisors at American University to gather information about categories to include and also worked with our coalition partners about educating Congress on ENDA.

Rebekah Fasel, one of our legal interns, worked on memos. One outlines Federal Conscious Clause laws and how they may relate to transgender people’s access to health care, while a second looks at current and suggested policy for transgender students, including their rights to be free from sex discrimination under Title IX.  She also worked on an additional memo on problems in accessing health care for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender patients

We welcomed Eliot Kennedy, also a legal intern, who started on Wednesday. Eliot is already hard at work doing research on trends in medical care use by low-income transgender populations.

There’s just a quick glimpse at what we’re up to …

Bowling Green, OH Human Rights Law on Nov. Ballot

Last year, Bowling Green, OH was one of several Ohio jurisdictions to adopt inclusive human rights ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. But, as happened, last year in Kalamazoo, MI opponents of equality have collected enough signatures to put the Bowling Green ordinances on the November ballot.

NCTE believes that human rights should not be put to a popular vote. But we also know that these battles are winnable. Despite hateful messages and ugly tactics by the other side, we won overwhelmingly in Kalamazoo, and in Gainesville, FL before that. Equality opponents are bound to press the same lies and fear-mongering in Bowling Green.

Local activists have formed the Bowling Green Coalition for Justice to defend the ordinances, and will be working closely with Equality Ohio and Trans Ohio through November. NCTE encourages everyone who supports equality to donate, volunteer, and spread the word to support this campaign.

Bowling Green Coalition for JusticeBowling Green Coalition for Justice

Why are we still asking you to call Congress?

Calling Congress doesn’t seem glamorous to some folks and people have asked us why we keep asking people over and over again to call their member of Congress. Is this doing us any good? Why should people keep doing it?  These are very legitimate questions.

Here’s the answer from our perspective: calling Congress matters and it has been doing an incredible amount of good. Your calls—and the calls of thousands and thousands of people like you—are the reason we have the votes we have for ENDA. Because LGBT people and our allies have made it clear to members of Congress that we need the protections that ENDA will offer, we are now on the brink of passing this bill. We cannot stop at this critical juncture.

Do they actually pay attention to the messages we leave? Staffers on Capitol Hill say that they absolutely pay attention to the calls and e-mails for and against ENDA. Especially since this is the first time we are really holding our own with the religious right—we are finally matching their calls in many districts and in some places surpassing them. This really matters.

Calling and e-mailing your member of Congress definitely should not be—and is not—the only strategy for passing this bill. Work is being done on all fronts, from direct actions to visits to Capitol Hill, and your calls and e-mails are one important part of that strategy. There are many other things you can do as well. Check out the endaNOW website  or go to our ENDA page to find out what folks are doing and get ideas about how you can join in. But on the way, take a couple of minutes and make that call again …

People are telling Congress: I WANT A JOB!

Jennifer Chavez is a 52-year-old Transgender women who lost her previous job within 2 months of letting her employer know that she was transgender. She has taken action to let her member of Congress know that she needs a job; we asked her if she’d let us know how it went. Here is her story:

I am a ASE Master certified auto repair technician with L-1 Advanced Driveability Specialist certification with 37 years experience in all facets of the industry, shops are in desperate need of a person with my skills, yet no one will hire me due to my transition.

I found out about ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and of all the organizations and people involved with trying to correct this social injustice, our loss of Civil Rights. I contacted my Senators and Congressmen to tell them of my hope that they support ENDA and discovered that Senators Saxby Chambliss, Johnny Issakson and Congressman Phil Gingrey all oppose us for various reasons, none of them logical. Their explanations are easily broken down when put to the test. When NCTE posted on Facebook that we should take our resume’s directly to their offices, I thought what a fantastic idea!

I composed a letter to Congressman Gingrey since the bill, H.B.3017, is in the house legislature at the moment, asking him once again to reconsider his opposition to ENDA and I included my resume, along with a copy of my voter registration card, my initial letter to him with his response and my response to that and a copy of my certifications and training so that he could see first hand who I was. I also asked for suggestions as to what I should do to find a job, and I delivered it directly to his office in Marietta, Georgia. I am awaiting a response.

Thank you, Jennifer, for taking action. The personal stories and actions of individuals make a huge difference in passing bills like ENDA.

We wish you the very best in your job search!