Transgender persons have long been experiencing various forms of discrimination on the basis of their sex. These people experience a wide gap between their anatomical sex and their gender structure. As a result, many transgender people have at one time experienced anxiety and distress that there is no proper reflection of their gender and the way they portray themselves. In this sense, there should be great consideration of the legal rights of the transgender people so that they may not face certain challenges such as school discrimination, lack of quality public service and difficulties in getting appropriate gender designations.
While some legal claims have been effective in protecting transgender rights in the courts, others have been least effective. The most effective ones include violation of rights to freedom of expression and discrimination on the basis of sex. The claims are on the basis of a person’s gender identity and status as a transgender person. The least effective arguments include the disability claim in transgender rights litigation. These legal arguments are evident in a case which involved a seventh-grade girl, Pat Doe, whose school did not allow her to wear female clothing as a result of having a male-bodied figure.
Doe’s attorney, Jeniffer Levi, on the freedom of expression claim, argued that Doe’s expressive rights were important as they were expressions of how she viewed herself as a person. On the claim of sex discrimination, the attorney argued that the school principal had no compelling interest to prohibit Doe from wearing clothing that is supposed to be won by a girl due to her being a male-bodied girl. The gender identity disorder diagnosis made both of this claims stronger and therefore making the arguments more persuasive to the courts. The judges ruled the case in favor of Doe. The courts ruled that forcing Doe to wear boy’s clothes was in essence “constructively expelling” her from school. Further, the court ruled that the school discriminated Doe on the basis of her sex. Though the free expression claim was initially a strong claim on the school attempting to suppress Doe’s speech, the court dropped it in later proceedings. Eventually, Doe’s attorneys believed that it was unnecessary to make the free expression claim as the Massachusetts free expression law did not apply to intermediate schools. However, the law applies to other cases such as employment discrimination on the basis of sex. On the other hand, some other claims have been least effective in protecting transgender rights in the courts. An example is the disability claim. Not all transgender advocates support this claim as it relies on the characterization of gender non-conformity.
In transgender rights legal struggles, there are some complexities that come about as a result of the “gender as choice” issue. One of the main issue is that mostly, conduct-based claims do not have more traction as identity-based claims. Transgender rights advocates mostly rely on fixed categories such as gender identity than on concepts that have less connection with identity such as gender expression. Doe’s case was stronger because it relied on gender identity. Currah does not only gives another example of a transgender case involving high school senior named Nikki Youngblood. Unlike Doe’s case, Youngblood’s was a conduct-based claim. The school forced her to either choose to dress in girl’s clothing or her picture will not be in the yearbook. Eventually, she chose the latter resulting in no picture in the yearbook. Youngblood’s case was a defeat due to the court viewing the gender expression claim as being unfathomable.
The transgender rights legal issues have resulted in many transgender people wanting inclusion in the gays rights movements. Over time, there have been some challenges as a result of this move. One of the main challenges is that though the transgender people view the gay community to be their only viable solution, it is not the same view on the other side, at least for some gay people. Some portion of the gay community views that transgender people have no intrinsic connection to gay rights. Though they support that transgender people need legal protection, they do not consider them as being part of their community. As a result, these gay people view that mixing transgender issues with gay ones may lead to confusion, therefore, losing effectiveness in their legal protection.
The challenges of transgender inclusion in the gay rights movements have become worse over time. For instance, there is still not much recognition that transgender people are a legitimate part of the gay community. In fact, a portion of the gay community claims that transgender people have no roots in the past and therefore have no connection to gay life and history. They view transgender people as outsiders and that they do not belong to the gay community in any way. As a result of this, the transgender people emerged as a distinct group who were able to form a politicized transgender movement.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) political movement has had a major effect on the United States’ political arena and especially the controversy over the “bathroom laws”. People have had the thoughts of shifting their political support based on whether the candidate supports the “bathroom laws” or not. For instance, one Mr. Clodfelter, who is a longtime Republican, had a problem of whether to support Pat McCrory in his re-election bid as a Republican governor in North Carolina or not to support him as a result of the governor signing a law that limits transgender people from accessing the bathroom. Some people view the law as a discriminatory issue as well as an economic one which hurts the people and the economy.
The various issues that transgender people face are evident in various spheres of life. Be it in the workplace, schools or the general public, transgender people face various challenges. There have been various legal arguments in protecting transgender rights. Though some have been effective, other have proved to be least effective. Some transgender laws have had an effect on the political arena showing how much this issue can affect the well-being of an entire nation. Therefore, it is clear that there should be great consideration of the legal rights of transgender people for there to be a reduction of conflicts in the society.
Bibliography
Currah, Paisley. "Gender pluralisms under the transgender umbrella." Transgender rights (2006): 3-31.
Fausset, Richard. “North Carolina Restroom Law Becomes a Central Election Issue.” New York Times, April. 25, 2016
Minter, Shannon. "Do Transsexuals Dream of Gay Rights-Getting Real about Transgender Inclusion in the Gay Rights Movement." NYL Sch. J. Hum. Rts. 17 (2000): 589.
