Groundbreaking Transgender Case!

A transgendered woman who was offered a job and later lost it after her employer found she was transgendered has won her discrimination case in Federal Court. A court ruled today that the Library of Congress discriminated against Diane Schroer when it first offered her a job and then withdrew it after finding she was transgendered.

From a news release on the ACLU website:

In reaching its decision, the court ruled: "The evidence established that the Library was enthusiastic about hiring David Schroer – until she disclosed her transsexuality. The Library revoked the offer when it learned that a man named David intended to become, legally, culturally, and physically, a woman named Diane. This was discrimination 'because of . . . sex.'"

The court compares the discrimination faced by Schroer to religious-based discrimination, saying, "Imagine that an employee is fired because she converts from Christianity to Judaism. Imagine too that her employer testified that he harbors no bias toward either Christians or Jews but only 'converts.' That would be a clear case of discrimination 'because of religion.' No court would take seriously the notion that 'converts' are not covered by the statute."