U.S. Department of Justice Discrimination Agreement

The U.S. Department of Justice reached a landmark agreement this week about discrimination against transgender students. We here at CTAC receive a number of complaints against schools in Connecticut that refuse to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their gender identity and require them to use a staff bathroom or a gender neutral bathroom. The CT law is vague about sex-segregated facilities, the CHRO takes the position that ex-segregated facilities are covered under the law but some school districts point out that there has never been any court ruling to back-up their opinion.

Now the U.S. Department of Justice has reached an agreement with a California school systems.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
United States Reaches Agreement with Arcadia, California, School District to Resolve Sex Discrimination Allegations

The United States entered into a settlement agreement with the Arcadia Unified School District in Arcadia, Calif., to resolve an investigation into allegations of discrimination against a transgender student based on the student’s sex.  Under the agreement, approved by the district’s school board unanimously last night, the school district will take a number of steps to ensure that the student, whose gender identity is male and who has consistently and uniformly presented as a boy at school and in all other aspects of his life for several years, will be treated like other male students while attending school in the district.

The agreement, joined by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which participated in the investigation, resolves a complaint filed in October 2011.  The complaint alleged that the district had prohibited the student from accessing facilities consistent with his male gender identity, including restrooms and locker rooms at school, as well as sex-specific overnight accommodations at a school-sponsored trip, because he is transgender.  The United States investigated this complaint under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Both Title IX and Title IV prohibit discrimination against students based on sex.

Under the settlement agreement, the district will:

•           work with a consultant to support and assist the district in creating a safe, nondiscriminatory learning environment for students who are transgender or do not conform to gender stereotypes;
•           amend its policies and procedures to reflect that gender-based discrimination, including discrimination based on a student’s gender identity, transgender status, and nonconformity with gender stereotypes, is a form of discrimination based on sex; and
•           train administrators and faculty on preventing gender-based discrimination and creating a nondiscriminatory school environment for transgender students.

Additionally, the district will take a number of steps to treat the student like all other male students in the education programs and activities offered by the district.  The district-wide provisions of the agreement will be in place until the end of the 2015-2016 school year.  The student-specific provisions of the agreement will be in place as long as the student is enrolled in the district.

“All students, including transgender students, have the right to attend school free from discrimination based on their sex,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “We commend the district for taking affirmative steps to ensure that this student and his peers can continue to learn and thrive in a safe and nondiscriminatory environment.”

“Our commitment to civil rights enforcement runs deep and nowhere is that commitment more meaningful than in our schools,” said André Birotte, Jr., United States Attorney for the Central District of California. “This agreement helps ensure continued advancement towards equal rights under the law for all students.”

In recent years, the Justice Department and the Department of Education resolved a number of cases involving gender-based harassment in public schools.  In 2012, the departments entered into a consent decree addressing harassment against students who do not conform to gender stereotypes in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, Minn.  In 2011, the departments entered into an agreement with the Tehachapi Unified School District, Calif., to resolve a similar complaint of harassment against a gay student who did not conform to gender stereotypes.

 Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 each prohibit harassment based on sex.  The enforcement of Title IV and Title IX are top priorities of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt .

Politico had this to say about why the agreement is so unique,

The Education and Justice departments have forced districts to change policies and practices to better protect students who are transgender, including in Minnesota and elsewhere in California. But those protections, primarily intended to prevent bullying and harassment, have been part of agreements to protect all students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
[...]
While the agreement is only between the district and federal agencies, it sets a precedent, said Asaf Orr, a staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which filed the complaint on behalf of the Arcadia student.

“This sends a clear message to school districts around the country saying ‘This is what the federal government is going to be expecting of you,’” Orr [Staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights] said.

 

Imperial Sovereign Court of CT Fundraiser For CTAC July 27

Saturday July 27th - White Party.  Dowager Emperor Nick and Dowager Empress Electra along with the Entire Imperial Sovereign Court of ALL CT invite you all to the WHITE PARTY, $10.00 cover at the door, $1.00 Jello Shots, Show Times 11PM and 12 Midnight.  All proceeds to Benefit Aids Project New Haven, Connecticut Health Initiative, Connecticut Transadvocacy, and St. Philips House.  Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/503736099699745/)

Eighth Annual Trans Health & Law Conference

Save the date for our Eighth Annual Transgender Lives: The Intersection of Health and Law Conference that will be held on April 26, 2014 at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, Ct.

Our conference is about relationships - relationships with ourselves and relationships with those who interact with us. It is about re-defining these relationship through knowledge and understanding and by helping to erase those misconceptions that have disempowered so many for so long. Our conference is also about community - and not just trans and gender non-conforming people but also our allies who support us, the professionals who work with us, our families who care for us, and most-especially you.

Our primary theme “Intersection of Health and Law” seeks to raise awareness of the interconnectivity and interdependence of two critical areas to the lives of the trans and gender non-conforming individual.

Each year the attendance and outreach for this conference has grown substantially, now making it the major Transgender Health and Law Conference in the Northeast. Our success is a directly attributed to attendees finding the conference to be informative, relevant, and positive. One of our goals for this conference is that you find your experience to be informative and positive. We hope to provide new information to you and to provide old information in a new way that provides you with new or renewed perspective. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts and suggestions for future conferences.

US Senate Committee on HELP: Passes ENDA

On a 15-7 vote in the committee the bill is passed with three amendments on ENDA to be considered 1) shared facilities 2) define the word "transition" 3) no action to be taken against employer who fires an employee for legitimate reason.

ENDA advances with bipartisan backing
By Steve Benen
MSNBC
Wed Jul 10, 2013

Following up on an item from late yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (better known as the HELP Committee) easily approved the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (better known as ENDA) this morning. The final vote count, by way of my colleague Tricia McKinney, was 15 to 7.

The two-to-one margin matters. If the legislation is going to have any chance of overcoming a Republican filibuster on the Senate floor, ENDA is going to need several GOP votes to side with the Democratic majority. With this in mind, this morning's vote was heartening -- all 12 Democrats on the committee backed the law, and they were joined by Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and most importantly, Orrin Hatch (Utah).

You can read the whole story here.

Video of the committee hearing... Executive Session - S. 815, Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013

Delaware Becomes The Seventeenth State To Have Protection For Gender Isdentity!

Delaware Governor Markell Signs Transgender Nondiscrimination Act
The New Civil Rights Movement
by Jean Ann Esselink
June 19, 2013

Democratic Governor Jack Markell wasted no time in signing the Transgender Nondiscrimination Act passed by the Delaware Senate earlier today in a 11-9 vote. Delaware is now the seventeenth state to provide transgender nondiscrimination protections.

The bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in matters of employment, housing, public accommodations, public works, contracting, and insurance. The new law also adds crimes against transgender victims to the existing Hate Crimes statute.

You can read the whole story here.

Oregon Legislature Repeals Surgery Requirement for Gender Change on Birth Certificate

The times there are a changing...

And they are coming fast and furious. The Oregon ACLU just issued a Press Release,

Oregon Legislature Repeals Surgery Requirement for Gender Change on Birth Certificate
By Becky Straus, Legislative Director, ACLU of Oregon & Kevin Díaz, Legal Director, ACLU of Oregon & Amanda Goad, LGBT Project
6/14/13

With Gov. Kitzhaber's approval of HB 2093 yesterday, transgender people in Oregon will no longer have to show proof of surgery in order to change their birth certificates to accurately reflect their gender. Previously, Oregon law required surgery in order to update a birth certificate gender marker, even for those transgender people who did not need or want it, or were unable to access surgery for financial, medical, or other reasons. The ACLU supported the great work of agency and advocate partners to reach this victory. We are glad to see Oregon's legislature and governor sign off on this important change and advance the rights of transgender Oregonians.

In 2011, the ACLU LGBT Project and the ACLU of Oregon submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a transgender woman who was seeking to update her birth certificate but unable to afford surgery. The Linn County Circuit Court later cited our brief in finding the surgery requirement unconstitutional. That case allowed one individual to amend her birth certificate without surgery, but today's legislation was necessary to fix the problem statewide. The change will take effect January 1, 2014.

You can read the whole press release here.

News Flash... Social Security Administration no longer requires surgery to change your gender marker!!!!!

TRANSGENDER PEOPLE AND THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
NTCE Press Release
June 13, 2013

In June 2013, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced a new policy to for updating Social Security records to reflect a person’s gender identity. Under the new policy, a transgender person can change their gender on their Social Security records by submitting either government-issued documentation reflecting a change, or a certification from a physician confirming that they have had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition. This policy replaces SSA’s old policy, which required documentation of sex reassignment surgery.

You can read the rest of the press release here with FAQs

 RM 10212.200 Changing Numident Data for Reasons other than Name Change

Accept any of the following:

    full-validity, 10-year U.S. passport with the new sex

NOTE: Do not accept passports with less than ten years of validity.;

    State-issued amended BC with the new sex;

    court order directing legal recognition of change of sex;

    medical certification of appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition in the form of an original signed statement from a licensed physician (i.e., a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.)). The statement must include the following:

        physician’s full name;

        medical license or certificate number;

        issuing state, country, or other jurisdiction of medical license or certificate;

        address and telephone number of the physician;

        language stating that the individual has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender (male or female);

        language stating the physician has either treated the individual in relation to the individual’s change in gender or has reviewed and evaluated the medical history of the individual in relation to the individual’s change in gender and that the physician has a doctorpatient relationship with the individual;

        language stating “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the forgoing is true and correct.”

NOTE: See RM 10212.200C in this section for a sample letter from a licensed physician that includes all required information to certify to the individual’s gender change.

IMPORTANT: Surgery is no longer required to change the sex field on the Numident. However, if an individual presents an original or certified letter from a physician stating the individual has undergone sexual reassignment surgery, accept it as evidence to change the sex field when it meets the requirements in GN 00301.030 and contains sufficient biographical data (e.g., name, date of birth) to clearly identify the individual.

NOTE: In some cases an individual’s sex may impact eligibility for benefits dependent upon spousal relationships. To make title II entitlement or title XVI eligibility determinations dependent upon marriage, follow the instructions in GN 00305.005B. Do not use sex field data on SSA records to make marital status determinations.

C. Exhibit – Sample Letter from Licensed Physician Certifying to the Individual’s Gender Change

(Physician’s Address and Telephone Number)

I, (physician’s full name), (physician’s medical license or certificate number), (issuing U.S. State/Foreign Country of medical license/certificate), am the physician of (name of patient), with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whom I have treated (or with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whose medical history I have reviewed and evaluated).

(Name of patient) has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender (specify new gender, male or female).

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the forgoing is true and correct.

Signature of Physician

Typed Name of Physician

Date