Massachusetts Passes Transgender Anti-Discrimination Bill

The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill which protects transgender people in the housing and credit industries as well as the workplace, and includes them under hate crime protections. The bill also adds the definition of gender identity to the General Laws of Massachusetts:

"Gender identity" shall mean a person's gender-related identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that gender-related identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology or assigned sex at birth. Gender-related identity may be shown by providing evidence including, but not limited to, medical history, care or treatment of the gender-related identity, consistent and uniform assertion of the gender-related identity or any other evidence that the gender-related identity is sincerely held, as part of a person's core identity; provided however, gender-related identity shall not be asserted for improper purpose.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 95-56 and has been sent to be signed by Governor Deval Patrick.

Thanks to OUTlaw 1L Rep. Kaley Lentini for the link.

MA Transgender Rights Bill

Advocates report that the House is set to debate a transgender rights bill. Read more from Masslive.

FBI Expands its Official Definition of Rape

The FBI's Uniform Crime Report Subcommittee has unanimously voted to officially change the definition of rape from "the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will" to "Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." As the Feministing blog notes, this expanded definition now covers statutory rape, same-sex rape, rape with an object, forced oral or anal sex, male victims, transgender victims, victims with disabilities and victims whose consent has been "diminished" by alcohol or drugs. Astonishingly, the FBI had been using its previous definition of rape since 1929 without any alterations.

(Special thanks to OUTlaw VP Caitlin Childs for finding this story.)

Dr. Keith Ablow Says Watching Chaz Bono on Television Harms Children

Fox News pundit Dr. Keith Ablow, who recently penned an article urging parents to prohibit their children from watching Dancing with the Stars contestant Chaz Bono, appeared on Fox Business' America's Nightly Scoreboard to proclaim that seeing a transman on television will cause kids to question and change their gender:

"This tour, this 'fame tour' of Chaz Bono, promoting transgenderism as if it's a civil right. There are a lot of kids who will be watching. Look. Kids go through phases. Adolescents. There may be tomboys watching who are girls. They don't really need to be encouraged to say 'hey wait what a second.' Maybe I'm not just a tomboy. Maybe I'm a boy!....This is a guy who has had a terrible run of things. An incredibly tortuous path and it's not over. So I don't like the idea that you'd suggest to adolescents and young people a surgical remedy at the plastic surgeon's office for a psychiatric condition!"

Five Things ‘Nightline’ Could Have Done Better In Its Special On Transgender Children

Nightline recently ran a special on transgender children, and Think Progress provides a list of five things they could have done better. The link also has the entire special if you feel inclined to watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/09/01/309882/five-things-nightline-could-have-done-better-in-its-special-on-transgender-children/

Federal Court rules that trans inmates cannot be denied hormone therapy

WNEC Law alumnus Dru Levasseur is quoted in The Advocate's article by Michelle Garcia:

"A federal court ruled on Wednesday that transgender prisoners serving time must be allowed to continue hormone treatments in Wisconsin prisons.
The Wisconsin legislature passed a law, effective January 2006, which barred prison doctors from administering or prescribing hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery for transgender people while in state custody.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin's ruling on Wednesday would not grant all inmates access to hormones or surgery, but now doctors can decide whether transgender inmates can receive care, as opposed to a blanket law.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal filed a challenge to the law on behalf of transgender prisoners, shortly after it went into effect. Dru Levasseur, Lambda Legal's Transgender Rights Attorney, hailed the decision.

"The court understood that medical treatment is critical for transgender people and that medical decisions should be made by doctors—not legislators," Levasseur said in a press release. "The state cannot decide to withhold treatment from people because they disapprove of their gender identity or medical needs—it’s unconstitutional." "

Guyanese group seeks to tackle transphobia

The New York Times reports via Reuters:

"GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - A group of transgender men in Guyana have asked the country's Supreme Court to strike down laws that leave them open to arrest following a police crackdown on male cross-dressers.
Police in the tiny South American country, where both homosexuality and transgender dress have been illegal for decades, detained and briefly held six transgender males in jail last February on charges of "cross-dressing."
"It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I felt like I was less than human," Seon Clarke, who was among those detained last year, said in a statement from Guyana's Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) on Monday.
Clarke is also one of those who on Friday filed a motion for the Supreme Court to overturn the sexual orientation and dress laws. SASOD, which is representing the group, said it had assembled an international team of lawyers for the case.
The recent crackdown brought criticism from international rights groups, and drew attention to similar laws that make homosexual activity and transgender dress a crime in many of the Caribbean region's former British colonies.
The Supreme Court has not said whether it will hear the case.
Guyanese law prohibits men from appearing in public in female attire, and vice versa. The law appears in a section of Guyana's legal code that also makes homosexuality a crime.
An effort to overturn the laws has been opposed by Guyana's powerful Christian, Hindu and Muslim clergy and has gained little traction with the government.


(Reporting by Neil Marks in Georgetown. Writing by Joshua Schneyer; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Paul Simao)"

"The Forgotten T"- WNEC Law Alumnus M. Dru Levasseur in ABA Journal

Below is an excerpt from an article in the most recent edition of the ABA Journal. WNEC Law alumnus M. Dru Levasseur talks about his transition during law school and the hiring process after graduation. The full article is called "Just Like Everyone. Inclusiveness efforts seek to make GLBT lawyers—and all others—feel at home." and it can be accessed here.

The Forgotten T

The T in GLBT represents transgender individuals, a minority within the minority facing a kind of discrimination and disrespect that few, even within the gay and lesbian community, have considered.

M. Dru Levasseur faced challenges few other students encounter when he transitioned during law school. “People met me as female and under a different name,” says the 2006 graduate of Western New England College School of Law, “and there was no way for me to have a different way to come out.”
One of Levasseur’s biggest challenges was how to address his gender identity during the hiring process.

“A lot of my jobs outed me, so I said on my cover letter that I was a transgender attorney,” he says. “During an interview, one person asked, ‘Do you really think it’s a good idea to tell people you’re a transgender attorney?’ I said, ‘Yes, I do. In fact, I think it’s a strength that I’ve gone through the challenge of transitioning, and I’m still a great attorney and have achieved in spite of all the extra stress.” He got a job offer there.

Levasseur also faced outright discrimination. “I was on a second interview [at a Northeastern office of a national firm], and the partner asked, ‘What’s transgender?’ ” he recounts. “I started telling him, and he interrupted and said, ‘There are no gay people at the firm. If you wanted to start a gay group, you’d be the only one in it.’ ”

Levasseur, now a staff attorney at the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund in New York City, believes his candor about being a transgender attorney dented his job prospects. “I felt like my choice to be an out transgender attorney limited my options,” he says. “Diversity is coming around and it’s a hot topic, but being a transgender attorney is still an issue.”