870 Market Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94102 415.865.0176 www.transgenderlawcenter.

org

Testimony of the Transgender Law Center Masen Davis, Executive Director Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate June 12, 2012 Mr. Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Members of the Committee: We thank Chairman Harkin and the Committee for holding a hearing on the Employment NonDiscrimination Act (ENDA), S. 811. On behalf of the Transgender Law Center (TLC), we are writing to provide you with information showing why it is crucial that you support this critically important legislation. TLC is a national non-profit, civil rights organization advocating for the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people. Created in 2002 in response to the overwhelming discrimination that transgender people and our families face in nearly every area of life, TLC utilizes legal services, education, community organizing, and policy and media advocacy to overcome this discrimination and help ensure that every person can live safely and authentically, regardless of their gender identity or expression. We provide legal information and assistance to nearly 1,500 transgender and gender non-conforming people per year. We also provide advice and technical assistance to private attorneys representing transgender and gender nonconforming clients nationwide. Approximately 10 - 15% of the inquiries we receive are related to employment discrimination. We have also represented transgender people in prominent discrimination cases, including Macy v. Holder, in which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in April of this year that transgender people are covered by the sexdiscrimination prohibition of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.1 Accordingly, TLC has extensive knowledge of the widespread pattern of discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming workers. Many times a week, we hear from a transgender or gender nonconforming person somewhere in the United States who has been fired, denied a job, or mistreated at work just because of their gender identity or expression. Despite existing protections under some state laws and under federal sex discrimination laws like Title VII, both employers and employees lack the basic knowledge that transgender people have legal protections from job discrimination. In the last year alone, Transgender Law Center assisted individuals in all types of jobs, including a transgender former police detective, Mia Macy, who was denied a job at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives after she came out as transgender2; a transgender
1 2

Macy v. Holder, EEOC Appeal No. 0120120821, Agency No. ATF-2011-00751 (Apr. 20, 2012). See Macy, EEOC Appeal No. 0120120821 (2012).

TLC IS AN INDEPENDENT NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

man in California who was fired a day after he inquired about whether his employer, a nationwide company, provided health care benefits that covered gender transition; a transgender woman who worked as a skilled maintenance worker for a school district and was constantly harassed by coworkers after she transitioned from male to female; and a transgender woman in Virginia who was let go after a customer made a negative comment about her gender. In 2008, Transgender Law Center conducted the first statewide survey in California documenting the financial, employment, health, and housing experiences of transgender Californians. With data from nearly 650 respondents, we worked with a team of social scientists to create The State of Transgender California: Results from the 2008 California Transgender Economic Health Survey.3 The outcomes are stark. The State of Transgender California confirms that transgender and gender non-conforming people experience overwhelming discrimination and marginalization in employment based on their gender identity. A copy of The State of Transgender California is attached, and the findings are discussed throughout this statement. The protection that ENDA would provide is crucial to ensuring that transgender and gender nonconforming employees are able to work in an environment that is safe, respectful and professional, regardless of gender identity. Transgender People Are Well Qualified to Work in a Variety of Industries, Yet Face Significant Economic Barriers The State of Transgender California reveals that transgender people who responded to the survey have remarkably high education levels. Respondents are almost twice as likely to hold a bachelors degree as the general California population. Ninety-four percent of the transgender respondents over the age of 25 hold a high school diploma or equivalent compared to 80% in California generally. Overall 46% of transgender people hold a Bachelors degree or higher compared to 29% of the general California population. Nonetheless, transgender people are disproportionately represented below the poverty line. According to the most recent state census, approximately 11.7% of people 18-64 years old in California live below the national poverty level of $10,400 for single adult households. Yet 1 in 4 transgender people in California earn wages below the national poverty level. This disconcerting trend continues, even at higher education levels. The average income for all individuals with a Bachelors degree residing in California is over $50,000. The average yearly income for transgender respondents with a Bachelors degree is below $30,000 40% less than the average college graduate in California. The State of Transgender California also found that respondents who are employed work in a variety of fields and occupations. Thirty-nine percent work in the private sector, 28% work in the non-profit sector, 16% work in government, and 16% are self employed. Yet despite high education levels and experience in a broad range of fields, less than half of respondents are currently employed full-time. The overall unemployment rate for transgender persons was twice the statewide average for the period this survey was administered.
3

Available at http://transgenderlawcenter.org/pdf/StateTransCA_report_2009Print.pdf.

Transgender People Face a Widespread Pattern of Discrimination and Harassment in Employment Discrimination and harassment based on gender identity is a reality for transgender and gender non-conforming workers. According to The State of Transgender California, two thirds of transgender Californians, or 67% report some form of workplace harassment or discrimination directly related to their gender identity. This harassment and discrimination ranged from verbal harassment to unfair scrutiny or discipline to termination of employment. Almost half of the surveyed population reports that they experienced some loss of employment either directly as a result of their gender identity or as a possible result of their gender identity. There was no difference between experiencing discrimination and type of employer. The widespread pattern of discrimination and harassment face by transgender workers exists in private companies, in the non-profit sector, and in government. Discrimination Against Transgender Employees Is Under-Reported Despite widespread employment discrimination, only 15% of transgender Californians who reported some form of discrimination or harassment went on to file a complaint. California has explicit protections against workplace discrimination based on gender identity, and still reporting rates are shockingly low. One can assume that reporting rates in the many states without such protections are far lower. Without explicit federal protections, state and local employees are not only vulnerable to discrimination, but are also less likely to speak out about it or make complaints out of fear of retaliation by the employer, and because they are not assured legal recourse for such discrimination or retaliation. ENDA Is Necessary to Clarify Employers Obligations Under Federal Law The explicit protections in federal statute for gender identity and sexual orientation created by ENDA are crucial, despite recent rulings from courts and the EEOC that transgender people, as well as lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, are protected by the prohibition of sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.4

See, e.g., Macy, EEOC Appeal No. 0120120821 (2012) (finding that discrimination based on gender identity, change of sex, and/or transgender status is cognizable under Title VII; Schroer v. Billington, 577 F.Supp.2d 293 (2008) (D.C. 2008) (holding that transgender plaintiff was protected by Title VII both due to sex stereotyping and because discrimination against a person who had changed gender was gender discrimination just as it was religious discrimination to discriminate against a person because they changed their religion); Lopez v. River Oaks Imaging & Diagnostic Group, Inc., 542 F. Supp. 2d 653, 655-656 (S.D. Tex. 2008) (holding that Title VII is violated when an employer discriminates against any employee, transsexual or not, because of their gender expression); Prowel v. Wise Bus. Forms, Inc., 579 F.3d 285, 292 (3d Cir. 2009) (denying summary judgment on a sex discrimination claim, explaining that evidence of sexual orientation harassment does not vitiate the possibility that [the plaintiff] was also harassed for his failure to conform to gender stereotypes); Smith v. City of Salem, 378 F.3d 566 (6th Cir. 2004) (holding that a transgender woman plaintiff fired for her job for expressing feminine gender characteristics at work could recover under Title VII).

Decisions such as that recently issued by the EEOC in the case brought by Transgender Law Center, Macy v. Holder, have correctly held that transgender people are fully covered by the sex discrimination provisions of Title VII.5 This is true regardless of whether the discrimination occurred because the person is gender non-conforming, has transitioned gender, or identifies as transgender.6 Other federal decisions such as Centola v. Potter and Heller v. Columbia Edgewater Country Club, and two non-binding decisions by the EEOC, have held that discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people also falls within the purview of sex discrimination laws.7 The protections created by ENDA in no way limit the protections that LGBT people have under Title VII or other laws that prohibit sex discrimination. Federal courts and other bodies interpreting Title VII should continue to apply that statute in a manner that recognizes that the prohibition of sex discrimination encompasses all types of discrimination related to a persons gender, including discrimination because a person does not conform to narrow gender stereotypes or is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The passage of ENDA is necessary, however, to make sure that all employers are on clear notice that sexual orientation and gender identity are prohibited bases of discrimination. Without ENDA, employers are likely to be unaware of their potential liability under federal law, and LGBT and gender non-conforming employees are likely unaware of their right to be free from discrimination on the job. Conclusion Allowing employers to make decisions about hiring, firing, promotions, and discipline based on a workers identity goes against Americas core value of equal opportunity. All too often, we see transgender Americans forced out of successful careers when they express their gender identity. Many transgender people fear and experience discrimination and therefore must either hide who they are, to the detriment of their health; leave jobs they love in order to transition without risking termination; or face rampant harassment and discrimination in their current workplace. Federal protection from discrimination and harassment based on gender identity would help liberate the transgender community from this stark reality. Such legislation would allow transgender Americans to continue contributing to our countrys workforce without fear of being terminated simply because of who we are. We urge the Committee to recognize this issue of basic fairness. Transgender Americans deserve to be ourselves in a workplace where we are judged exclusively on our ability to do our
5 6 7

Glenn v. Brumby, 663 F.3d 1312 (11th Cir. 2011); Macy, Appeal No. 0120120821 (Apr. 20, 2012). Macy, EEOC Appeal No. 0120120821 (2012).

Centola v. Potter, 183 F.Supp.2d 403 (D. Mass 2002) (finding that an employer cannot discriminate against an openly gay man or a man perceived to be gay because of the based on a failure to conform to sexual stereotypes of how real men behave); Heller v. Columbia Edgewater Country Club, 195 F. Supp. 2d 1212 (D. Or. 2002) (denying summary judgment on a Title VII sex discrimination claim and stating that nothing in Title VII suggests that Congress intended to confine the benefits of that statute to heterosexual employees alone); Castello v. Postmaster General, EEOC Appeal No. 0120111795, Agency No. 1G-701-0071-10 (Dec. 20, 2011); Veretto v. Postmaster General, EEOC Appeal No. 0120110873, Agency No. 4B-060-0130-10 (July 1, 2011).

jobs. Work is an integral part of our lives, of who we are, just like our gender. No American should be denied a job just because of their gender. In support of this goal, we respectfully ask that Chairman Harkin move S. 811, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to a Committee vote and that the Committee supports ENDA as the critical step toward securing fair workplace treatment for all Americans.