House to Hold First-Ever Hearing on Transgender Rights

Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet at 3:00 PM on June 25, 2008.

On Thursday the House will hold the first-ever Congressional hearing on transgender rights. Introduced by Congressman Rob Andrews, D-NJ, the hearing will examine discrimination faced by transgender people in the workplace.

Andrews' home state of New Jersey offers some workplace protections for transgender people: a law passed in 2006 prohibits discrimination based on "gender identity or expression" in employment, housing and public accommodations. But New Jersey is one of only 13 states (and the District of Columbia) with policies banning discrimination based on gender identity. Most other states have protections that only extend to gays, lesbians and bisexuals; gender identity is not included.

Past efforts to secure protections on the federal level for transgender people have not panned out. In 2007, Representatives Barney Frank (D-Mass), Chris Shays (R-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), and Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), designed to provide protections to LGBT people similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, the version of the bill that was finally passed excluded language protecting transgender people from workplace discrimination.

Thursday's hearing will hopefully lead to legislation that does not shut out transgender rights from larger efforts to achieve LGBT equality. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), "This is not only an opportunity to be truly heard by our fellow Americans, it will help to build the foundation for significant changes in federal laws protecting transgender people from discrimination."

As expected, not everyone is happy about tomorrow's hearings; anti-gay rights groups have begun urging their supporters to protest the proceedings. Writes Regina Griggs, Executive Director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays: "Homosexuals and their transgender activist allies hope to use this hearing as a way of forcing the imposition of gender confusion upon all Americans ... " -- or, the standard wrongheaded, alarmist tripe that is always trotted out to block equal rights for LGBT people.

The hearings will be held at 10:30; portions of the proceedings will be aired on CSPAN and streamed on their website.