Sadly, a sickening case of discrimination just happened at a hospital in Indiana. This treatment is the kind we all fear.
Missive from Missoula
Missoula, Montana passed an ordinance preventing their citizens from discriminating against other citizens on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It seems so sane, and simple, really. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, those of us in places that don’t have such an ordinance might shame our neighbors: Really, we’re gonna be beaten out by Missoula?!
Housing Discrimination Protections
A transgender apartment-hunter thought he’d found a perfect place in Baltimore. But when he showed up, the woman raised the rent by $100 over the advertised price, said she would only take cash and was clearly uncomfortable.
Last year, the Task Force joined forces with the National Center for Transgender Equality to survey 6,456 transgender people. An alarming 11 percent reported having been evicted because of their gender identity and 19 percent said they’d become homeless, the survey found. And while 68 percent of Americans own a home, only 32 percent of transgender Americans have achieved that level of security in their living arrangements.
Of course, gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans are also frequently the victims of housing discrimination. Using testers posing as would-be renters or buyers, the Michigan Fair Housing Centers reported in 2007 that 27 percent of same-sex couples were treated differently: “We found differences in rental rates, level of encouragement and application fees that favored the male/female test teams. We also saw behavior bordering on sexual harassment directed toward testers posing as same-sex couples,” the group noted . . .
Likewise, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported in 2001 that 34 percent of lesbians, gays or bisexuals said “they or someone they know” had experienced discrimination while trying to rent an apartment or buy a house . . .
Nothing in federal law prohibits refusing to rent or sell to those of us who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. And as Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, recently stressed, “Housing discrimination remains a persistent problem in our country.”
Nadler recently introduced legislation to amend the Fair Housing Act to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the protected categories. Enacted in 1968 to outlaw housing discrimination based on race, color, religion or national original, the measure has gradually been expanded to also cover sex, disability and familial status. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., is co-sponsoring Nadler’s drive for a much-needed upgrade.
ENDA Petition
Sign the petition to Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the Courage Campaign and GetEQUAL.
Dear Speaker Nancy Pelosi —
With health care legislation passing, now is the time to institute workplace protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Rep. Tammy Baldwin says she believes that we have the votes to pass ENDA, and Rep. George Miller has said the bill is ready to come out of committee now that the health care bill has passed. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, we call on you to act boldly and decisively and bring ENDA to the floor for a vote now.
No Discrimination Based on Gender Identity
From today’s NYT:
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has inserted language into the federal jobs Web site explicitly banning employment discrimination based on gender identity.
More here. But yeah, let’s keep criticizing the guy for not doing enough fast enough. Honestly? This blows my mind, though lately I’ve been wondering if the LGBT community has general amnesia.
(h/t to SJ)
Transgender Workplace Discrimination Stats
I don’t remember hearing anything about this study, nor that the results were in, but I thought others might want to check it out.
The key findings are:
- Survey respondents reported twice the unemployment rate of the population at large.
- 97% of respondents reported harassment on the job.
- 47% reported an adverse job situation (firing, lack of raise/promotion, not hired).
- 15% of transgender people lived on $10k a year or less.
I expect my usual skeptics to be surprised by these stats, and to want to know more about how the survey worked & who responded. It was done by NCTE and The Task Force, and included participants from all 50 states.