N.J. bans gender switch bias
By MICHAEL RISPOLI, thnt.com Online, June 17, 2007
TRENTON — When
Jillian T. Weiss made the change from male to female back in
1998, she found it hard to get a job as a lawyer.
"People were unwilling to have me work with them when they could
tell when I was transitioning," said Weiss.
Only able to get a job as a legal secretary, Weiss had to "go
back" and work her way up. After getting a doctorate
degree, Weiss now is an assistant professor of law and society
at Ramapo College. Weiss says how she expresses her gender
is a nonfactor with her students and coworkers.
Weiss said her experience beginning nearly a decade ago is
similar to what many transgender people deal with in the
workforce. The state, however, is looking to end this type
of workplace discrimination.
Beginning today, New Jersey becomes the sixth state to
explicitly prohibit transgender discrimination. The change
to the state's Law Against Discrimination adds "gender identity
and expression" to the list of categories already protected
against discrimination involving employment, along with public
accommodation, contracts, housing, credit and union membership.
"What this is going to do is provide a push in for people so
they can start to get jobs," said Weiss, who holds workshops
with corporations and small businesses to teach workplace
diversity. "Even though there will continue to be
unemployment, they will find that it is going to relieve some of
the frustrations they have that they can't get jobs at all."
New Jersey's law was signed in December but didn't take effect
for 180 days. It was enacted with wide support in the
Legislature, 69-5 with six abstentions in the Assembly, and 31-5
and 33-3 in its two votes in the Senate.
Several other states give transgender people certain protections
under sex or disability discriminations laws, and four more
states — Colorado, Iowa, Oregon and Vermont — have transgender
anti-discrimination laws coming into effect this year.
"It's just the right thing to do," said Sen. Ellen Karcher,
D-Monmouth, one of the law's primary sponsors. "We're all
human beings, and I just thought we should give them the rights
they deserved."
Barbara Casbar Siperstein, director of Gender Rights Advocacy
Association of New Jersey, said making the law "black and white"
presents an opportunity to "educate people and make them think."
"One of the things I think that we all want, as people, is
respect," said Casbar Siperstein.
Violators could face stiff penalties. The law allows for a
pre-trial investigation done by the state Division on Civil
Rights or a civil court hearing, and anything from a
cease-and-desist order to compensation for the harmed party
could be issued. Fines could also be handed out, from
$10,000 for a first offense to $50,000 for multiple offenses.
The current expansion adds to the oldest civil-rights statute in
the country, which was passed in 1945, said Frank Vespa-Papaleo,
director at the state Division on Civil Rights.
The original law prohibited discrimination based on race,
nationality and ethnicity in employment, but was sparsely
enforced. The section in the state Constitution outlawing
discrimination in education and military service was the first
to explicitly state such a ban when it was drafted in 1947.
The new amendment to the law had its beginnings in a 2001
appellate court decision known as Enriquez v. West Jersey
Health Systems. The court found the refusal to rehire
a doctor who was in the process of going from male to female
violated the sexual discrimination law. The amendment
codifies existing rulings, said Vespa-Papaleo.
Vespa-Papaleo added that along with being the oldest, the
state's civil rights law is among the broadest in the country.
"New Jersey has a very bold and generally positive outlook on
protecting the rights of the people in our community regardless
of their background," said Vespa-Papaleo.
On the Web:
www.njcivilrights.org
mrispol@gannett.com
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