Transgender Issues

There are many issues that affect the transgender part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. In 2001, the Task Force established the Transgender Civil Rights Project to work for transgender equality. The Task Force strives to make all of its work transgender-inclusive and also believes that working on transgender-specific issues is critical to meeting our mission of achieving freedom, justice and equality for all LGBT people.

NEW RESOURCE: A guide for LGBT organizations on how to be fully transgender inclusive! Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People: The Nine Keys to Making LGBT Organizations Fully Transgender-Inclusive [1] is a joint publication of the Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality. Geared for LGBT organizations of any kind (from communities of faith, to social clubs, to advocacy organizations), this guide covers both practical and big picture ways we can all bring our goals of a fully inclusive movement into reality.

Why it Matters:

Transgender people are and have always been an integral part of our community, and the struggle to establish civil rights protections for transgender people cannot be separated from the struggle to win freedom and equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

What We’re Doing:

The Task Force leads national efforts to broaden the definition of our communities to include transgender people in the public policy debates on civil rights, hate crimes and health.

• We work in coalition with other groups devoted to ensuring transgender equality. A primary goal is to educate members of Congress about discrimination against transgender people to lay the foundation for a transgender-inclusive anti-discrimination bill. We also work for transgender-inclusive hate crimes legislation at the federal level.
• Our Transgender Civil Rights Project [1] provides legislative, policy and strategy assistance, including evaluation of legislative and policy language, to activists and organizations working to pass trans-inclusive or transgender-friendly laws and policies. Although the primary work of the project centers on nondiscrimination laws and policies, the project can provide assistance to policymakers and activists working to pass any legislation or policies regarding transgender equality. The Transgender Civil Rights Project's primary goal is to increase the number of state, local and federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Prohibiting discrimination based on "gender identity or expression" ensures that the entire range of transgender and gender non-conforming people are protected.
• The Task Force has published two transgender-specific publications: Transgender Equality: A Handbook for Activists and Policymakers [1] and Transitioning Our Shelters: A Guide to Making Homeless Shelters Safe for Transgender People [1]. We also have a number of fact sheets specific to transgender nondiscrimination protections available for your use. First, Jurisdictions with Explicitly Trans-Inclusive Discrimination Laws [2] lists the jurisdictions with nondiscrimination laws, including the population of each, and shows what percentage of the U.S. population is covered with such a law. Second, our joint protect with the Transgender Law and Policy Institute, the Scope of Explicitly Transgender-Inclusive Discrimination Laws [3], shows in which areas (e.g., employment, education, public accomodations) discrimination is prohibited and whether there is a private right to action, and it also shows the states and localities that have enacted more limited discrimination protections that apply only to public employees. Third, we have a Trans-Inclusive Year in Review [4] that lists all state and local legislative victories by year, including the passage date and vote, starting with 2002. Last, we have a chart [5] that analyzes the average number of years that have passed between the passage of protections for sexual orientation and the addition of protections for gender identity/expression.