Even more unjust than ignoring the workplace needs and other rights of their gay constituents, our lawmakers have never even considered the civil rights of transgender Delawareans. There is no law in the Delaware Code nor has there ever been a bill seeking to protect these citizens.
While sexual orientation is at least addressed in hate crimes law, gender identity is not. Not only are transgender Delawareans mostly invisible in public discourse, as far as Delaware law is concerned, they do not exist as such.
Transgender residents are also not protected by federal law. Most courts have ruled transgender citizens are not included under Title VII, which bans sex discrimination. The Americans with Disabilities Act explicitly exempts transgender people. Yet more than one transgender person is murdered in this country each month, and discrimination against them abounds.
"Transgender" is an umbrella term for those who see their gender identity as being different from their sexual markers -- chiefly genitalia and DNA -- at birth. Thus, transgender can describe male-to-female and female-to-male transsexuals, although many transgender people do not choose to transition physically from one sex to the other.
The term also includes cross dressers who do not do so for entertainment purposes, but to be more comfortable with their self-perceived gender identity.
Transgenderism refers to gender identity: Who does one understand oneself to be? Homosexuality, bisexuality and heterosexuality all refer to sexual orientation: To whom is one sexually attracted?
Transgender citizens may or may not be gay. Children as young as preschoolers have self-identified as transgender. Psychiatry and the related sciences have been unsuccessful in truly altering a transgender identity. Transgenderism, like homosexuality, is not a choice.
The social challenges faced by transgender citizens are daunting. Workplace discrimination may result in unstable housing conditions, which can put these citizens at the mercy of public programs and officials who may not respond respectfully or appropriately to them. Such stressors may force them into a health care system that is often unprepared for transgender people's needs.
In light of the extreme bias against them, many transgender people remain hidden, reinforcing the belief their numbers are negligible. Dr. Lynn Conway of the University of Michigan estimates there is one male-to-female transgender person -- or transwoman -- per every 500 people. In Delaware that would be more than 1,700 transwomen, without counting transmen.
A 2007 poll by Peter D. Hart Research Associates revealed that 72 percent of Americans agree that "fairness is a basic American value and employment decisions should be based solely on qualifications and job performance, including for transgender people."
I contend that the next anti-discrimination bill in the Delaware Legislature should cover not only sexual orientation but also gender identity. Eleven states, the District of Columbia and numerous counties and municipalities have already passed laws protecting transgender citizens. We should, too.
Further information about transgenderism is available from Delaware Renaissance and the National Center for Transgender Equality, both accessed from the links page of my Web site at www.towardequality.org.
Doug Marshall-Steele, of Milton, is a member of The News Journal Community Advisory Board.
"Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets. "
Napoleon Bonaparte
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