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Celebrating historic week for trans Americans

EEOC says gender identity bias equals sex discrimination

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Successful advocates learn to keep their eyes on the prize. We must adapt to survive long, fallow periods when progress is non-existent, or even when we have our backs up against the wall in a battle for survival. But as has been true for African Americans, women, and gay folks over the last 50 years, remarkable progress has now come to fruition for the trans community. While the LGBT community still has major challenges ahead, including comprehensive civil rights for the entire LGBT community, marriage equality, LGBT access to humane, quality health care, confronting the scourge of same-sex intimate partner abuse, and bisexual empowerment, this is an historic day for the entire LGBT community, and particularly so for the trans community.

On April 20, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in a ruling that is binding on all federal offices and agencies, and was unanimously approved in a bipartisan manner, stated that gender-identity discrimination, by definition,Ā  constitutes sex discrimination, whether based on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act or the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws. This historic ruling, Macy v Holder, consistent with the current state of Title VII case law, follows on the heels of the equally historic 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Glenn v Brumby. That decision, building on a growing number of federal trial court and appellate decisions, expanded the definition of ā€œsex discriminationā€ to include gender expression, thereby constitutionally including transgender and gender non-conforming persons under the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Basically, this EEOC decision expands protections beyond the governmental realm in an all-encompassing manner, including private employers of 15 or more employees. The ultimate arbiter about Title VII’s protections against gender identity discrimination may be the Supreme Court, but there is no guarantee that it will ever take any such case in the future, and, in the meantime, the legal meaning of ā€œsex discriminationā€ will be expanded and used in a diverse number of arenas, including public accommodations and housing.

The Commission noted that the term ā€œsexā€ encompasses both sex (i.e., the biological characteristics men and women) and gender. Additionally, the Commission explained that federal courts have increasingly been using the Price Waterhouse v Hopkins ā€œsex stereotypingā€ theory to determine the presence of sex discrimination.

Many of us have spent the past decade working to pass gender identity and expression laws in states and municipalities. We now have done so in 16 states, D.C., and more than 150 localities, encompassing 45 percent of the U.S. population. That work has laid the cultural as well as legal groundwork for the evolution to todayā€™s world, where the understanding of the word ā€œsexā€ includes not only the biology of transgender as well as cisgender men and women, but the manner in which that biology is uniquely expressed by all human beings. It is a part of the human heritage of us all, regardless of our skin color, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. It is also a long way from the lay understanding of ā€œsexā€ to mean ā€œI did not have sex with that woman,ā€ and just as the gay community has made major advances by forcing the recognition that gay people have lives like straight people, and care as much about motherhood, the military and apple pie as the next person, so now gender non-conformity is about far more than the plumbing of a human being or a public restroom.

Finally, Iā€™m curious to see how the Michigan Womynā€™s Music Festival and similar venues will treat trans women in the future. This decision knocks out the foundation from under those separatists who have claimed that genitals rule, that trans women should be excluded from ā€œfemaleā€ spaces, and that trans-cis lesbian relationships are inherently a form of rape. Maybe now we can consensually put all that silliness behind us, and make this world more welcoming for all.

As Gandhi is reputed to have said, ā€œFirst they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you. Then you win.ā€ We just won.

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Democrats must stop the circular firing squad

Instead focus on blocking Trumpā€™s agenda

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Democrats should take a moment before they go after each other and try to assign blame for the loss. There is plenty of time to do that. From Nancy Pelosi, to Bernie Sanders, each has already voiced their thoughts on who they think is to blame, but itā€™s too soon for that. 

Democrats should remember Joe Biden is president for more than two more months, and we should be working to make him as strong as possible. There is much he can do in that time, including getting out the budgeted money for environmental issues. Then letā€™s focus on what the Senate can do, while it is still in the hands of Democrats. Among other things they should confirm a lot of new judges. We know if Republicans were in this situation they would do that. Then on Jan. 21, we can begin the work of rebuilding the Democratic Party where it needs rebuilding, and start the work toward electing Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections. The work needed now is being done by those like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who is calling a special session of the legislature to deal with the expected Trump policies that could impact the state. Other Democratic governors, with Democratic legislatures, are doing the same. That is what has to be done now. 

Then the Democratic Party has to finally rid itself of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) who has the nerve to attack the party that allowed him to run in its primaries even though he is not a Democrat. The party gave him all their lists and he has used them to raise money, sell his books, and earn enough to buy his third home. He has never really accomplished much in all his years in Congress. I am sick of listening to him attack the party.

I may not like it, but understand why journalists, and opinion writers, and all the useless commentators on cable TV, like Van Jones, who get paid to be there, all want to make a headline for themselves. The pontificators will all say dumb things, and try to outdo the person sitting next to them. Itā€™s what they get paid to do. So, as is my choice, I have stopped watching any cable TV. But when Democratic politicians do the same thing, I am much less accepting. The election is over, and you donā€™t need to do it now. You donā€™t need to attack other Democrats just to try to get your own headline. Hold off a little, take a breath, and letā€™s all look at the results when we have them all. As I write this, we donā€™t even know who will win the House of Representatives. Instead of attacking your own party, attack Trump and the Republicans who are proposing things that will hurt your constituents. There is plenty to attack them on already. 

It is pretty clear Trump will not get everything he campaigned on done. He wonā€™t solve the worldā€™s problems in 24 hours. So, letā€™s develop some ways to attack his tax plan, and letā€™s keep warning people who voted for him how he will end up hurting them. Letā€™s talk about tariffs and how bad they can be for the average American. Because we lost this campaign, it doesnā€™t mean the things we fought for were wrong. Giving new parents $6,000, or helping start-up businesses with more loans and tax cuts, are things still worth fighting for. We know we have to develop new messaging, and that is what we can work on now and try it out. Democrats can do that without attacking each other. 

Instead letā€™s celebrate those who won. The senators who held on to their seats, like Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.). Then all the LGBTQ members of Congress who were reelected. New members of Congress like Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) and the first transgender woman elected, Sarah McBride (D-Del.). Then the two African-American women elected to the Senate, Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-Del.), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.). We really do have some things to celebrate.  

Once again, itā€™s time to stop the circular firing squad, and take that breath. There are groups planning a March on Washington and those of us who are fighters, will be there. We will be there to fight for Democrats in the 2026 mid-term elections. We will be there to join hands again. But there is some time, take a breath and manage to hold your tongue for just a little bit, before going on the attack against your own. 


Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.

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Activists around the world offer potential path forward for American counterparts

Trumpā€™s re-election will not stop fight for LGBTQ rights

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President-elect Donald Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Donald Trump early on Nov. 9, 2016, declared victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. My husband and I arrived in Jerusalem less than 48 hours later.

A Wider Bridge, a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred,” months earlier had invited us to participate in one of their missions to Israel. It was my first time in the country.

Our first meeting was at the Shalom Hartman Institute, which describes itself as a “leading center of Jewish thought and education” that seeks “to strengthen Jewish peoplehood, identity, and pluralism; to enhance the Jewish and democratic character of Israel; and to ensure that Judaism is a compelling for good in the 21st century.”

The staffer who greeted us welcomed us to Israel. He then pointed out that Benjamin Netanyahu had been prime minister for nearly a decade.

“Now you will know what it will feel like,” he said.

His comment was cold comfort to many of us who were still reeling over Trump’s victory. It is also one that has repeatedly come to mind as I continue to process the results of the presidential election and what a second Trump presidency will mean for this country, for me as a gay man, for the community that I cover, and especially for transgender Americans and immigrants who the first Trump administration disproportionately targeted.

The U.S. is certainly not the only country in which voters in recent years have elected authoritarian figures who pose a threat to LGBTQ rights.

Viktor OrbĆ”n has been Hungary’s prime minister since 2010. Javier Milei has been Argentina’s president since December 2023. Jair Bolsonaro was Brazil’s president from 2019-2023.

Netanyahu was Israel’s prime minister from 1996-1999 and from 2009-2021. He became the country’s prime minister for a third time on Dec. 29, 2022.

Hungary, among other things, has enacted a so-called propaganda law and effectively banned same-sex couples from adopting children since OrbĆ”n took office. Milei’s government in August closed Argentina’s National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism. Bolsonaro, among other things, encouraged fathers to beat their sons if they came out as gay and said people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are at increased risk for AIDS.

Sofia Diaz protests her dismissal from her job at Argentina’s National Social Security Administration. (Photo courtesy of Sofia Diaz)

Activists who protested against Netanyahu’s proposed judicial system reforms say they would have adversely impacted LGBTQ Israelis. The prime minister postponed these efforts in March 2023 after a nationwide strike paralyzed the country. Israeli lawmakers a few months later approved them after opposition lawmakers stormed out of the Knesset in protest.

LGBTQ activists participate in a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s proposed reforms to Israel’s judiciary. (Photo courtesy of George Avni/WDG)

Israel, Brazil, Argentina, and Hungary are four of the dozens of countries around the world in which LGBTQ rights have been under attack ā€” and the U.S. will certainly remain on this list once Trump takes office again on Jan. 20. It is certainly a frightening prospect for many in our community, but the activists in the aforementioned countries have not given up, and their American counterparts should not either.

“I’m not saying it’s not easy, but the direction is so clear,” AndrĆ”s LĆ©derer, the head of advocacy for the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, told me in April during an interview at a Budapest coffee shop. “They (the Hungarian government) can try to introduce setbacks. They can make life miserable, temporarily, but, you know, you just can’t go against the entire world in that sense.”

A falafel restaurant in Budapest, Hungary, with a decal on the window that notes it welcomes LGBTQ customers. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Hamas militants on Oct. 8, 2023, killed Israel Defense Forces Maj. Sagi Golan in Beā€™eri, a kibbutz that is near the Israel-Gaza border. His fiancĆ©, Omer Ohana, with the support of Israeli advocacy groups, successfully lobbied Israeli lawmakers to amend the country’s Bereaved Families Law to recognize LGBTQ widows and widowers of fallen servicemembers.

“It was a big effort, and a big success,” Yael Sinai Biblash, the CEO of the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, told me last month after she attended Golan’s memorial service in a Tel Aviv suburb.

Bru Pereira and Gui Mohallem, co-directors of VoteLGBT, a Brazilian organization established in 2014 with a mission to increase LGBTQ representation in politics, in response to Trump’s reelection said they and others in Brazil are “witnessing how grassroots efforts, particularly from marginalized communities, are crucial in defending LGBTQ+ rights under right-wing governments.”

Pride flags fly over Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro on March 20, 2022. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Donald Tusk became Polandā€™s prime minister last December after a group of coalition parties that he leads won a majority of seats in the Sejm, the lower house of the countryā€™s parliament. President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the conservative Law and Justice party who opposes LGBTQ rights, remains in office as part of the governing coalition.

Deputy Justice Minister Krzysztof Śmiszek is openly gay. His partner, former MP Robert Biedroń, a member of the European Parliament.

Magda Dropek is an activist who ran for the Lesser Poland Regional Assembly in KrakĆ³w, Polandā€™s second-largest city, in April. Lesser Poland is among the provinces that had declared themselves ā€œLGBT-free zonesā€ ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Magda Dropek votes in KrakĆ³w, Poland, on April 7, 2024. (Photo courtesy or Dropek’s X account)

Dropek noted in her X post in response to the U.S. election results that Sarah McBride last week became the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress.

Dropek, like others, pointed out Russian President Vladimir Putin and other politicians respond to “antagonized societies” with “populism and (sacrifice) human rights.” Dropek, however, stressed the new Polish government presents an opportunity.

“What happened in Poland a year ago is still an important story that brings hope to others,” she said. “It’s a huge responsibility, but also work, because this is the time to change mentalities and educate using democratic tools. Because we’ve been coping with everything else, grassroots support and organization for so many years, you know yourselves.”

Trump leaves office on Jan. 20, 2029.

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Racism and misogyny are alive in America

Trumpā€™s confounding victory will hurt many people who voted for him

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A smart, compassionate, African-American/Asian woman, in a mixed marriage, runs for president and loses to a felon, found liable of sexual assault, twice impeached, and leader of a failed coup. What could be the reason? 

I understand people are unhappy with the economy, immigrants coming into our country illegally, and many with their lives in general. But none of this can account for the huge numbers of white, African American, and Latino men, who voted for Trump. In a major shift, Trump won Latino men 54%-44% over Harris, and 50%-39% of white men according to NBC exit polls, and 20% of male Black voters nationally. We need to call that what it is and begin to have a real conversation in this country about it. They are all ending up voting for a man whose policies will hurt them. Whether it be a tax on all the goods they buy, or being anti-union, applauding Elon Musk for firing strikers, or giving tax breaks not to them, but to millionaires and billionaires. African-American men should know he refused to rent them apartments in New York. Latino men should understand he will be knocking on their doors looking for possible family members to deport. All of this overridden by their macho fear of being in a country led by a woman. We have seen this before in Hillary Clintonā€™s race in 2016. Unless we have an open conversation about this, it will continue to happen. 

Donald Trump is a threat to all decent people around the world. He admires dictators and he will emulate them. He will override our judicial system, using the Justice Department to get back at his enemies. We know this. 

On the abortion issue it appears women voted overwhelmingly to pass every ballot initiative, except the one in South Dakota, to keep abortion legal. It went down in Florida because though 57% voted for it the legislature managed to say it would only pass if it got 60% of the vote. Yet clearly, even many of the white women who voted for these initiatives, didnā€™t see the danger in then voting for Trump. It is very hard to rationalize. I hear all sorts of explanations on the various news/talk fests on cable TV. People pontificating on all sorts of things. Trying to determine who in the Democratic Party is to blame. In 2016 they blamed the candidate, Hillary. She didnā€™t do enough, went to the wrong states at the end, didnā€™t connect with voters. This year they are trying not to blame Harris who was thrown into a campaign only three months before the election. So, many are blaming President Biden for not announcing two years ago he wasnā€™t going to run again and allowing Democrats to hold a real primary. Who knows, maybe they are right. Harris could never escape the animus toward the Biden administration. She tried valiantly, and I think ran an amazing campaign. As I wrote online, we may have lost an election, but many like me ended up falling in love with Kamala Harris. 

There are a few high points from Tuesdayā€™s election, like the victories of two Democratic, African-American women senators, Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware, and Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland. Then Delaware had a double victory, electing Sarah McBride to Congress, where she will become the first elected transgender woman to serve in the House of Representatives. When I write this it looks as if Democrats may actually lose only three senators: Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Jon Tester in Montana, and Republicans won the open seat in West Virginia. Tammy Baldwin will keep her seat from Wisconsin, and in races still too close to call we could see Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, and Jacky Rosen in Nevada, keep their seats. Then Ruben Gallego in Arizona, and Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, have a shot at winning their races in what were open seats. All these results potentially showing the schizophrenia in the electorate in states that Trump won. They all out-performed Harris in their states. After all, a woman senator they know may be OK, but not a strong, African-American/Asian woman, as president.Ā 

We will be dissecting this election for years to come, historians will be looking at how Trump could have won. But the reality for those of us living in the United States now, those who Trump has insulted and degraded, including women, African Americans, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, the disabled, nearly everyone one can think of, we will have to live with him and fight back where we can. Hopefully joining hands to do it, as there is strength in numbers. We shall overcome!


Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.

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