US Tax Board: Transgender Surgery, Hormone Therapy Deductible as Medical Expenses

The U.S. Tax Court today issued a long-awaited decision in O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, ruling that treatment for gender identity disorder (GID) qualifies as medical care under the Internal Revenue Code, and is therefore deductible.

"This decision treats Rhiannon O'Donnabhain the way she deserves to be treated -- like any hard-working American taxpayer with medical expenses," said Karen Loewy, senior staff attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which represented Ms. O'Donnabhain.

"From the start, this has been a no-brainer. Every mainstream medical authority from the American Psychiatric Association to the National Institutes of Health recognizes the legitimacy of providing medical care for transgender people. Dismissing these medical expenses as illegitimate and not deductible was discrimination, pure and simple."

Full Story from Pam's House Blend
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USA: HRC Releases New State by State Report on LGBT Legislative Action in 2009

The comprehensive state-by-state report provides a complete summary of all the state legislation introduced and passed in 2009 that affected lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families. The report indicates that despite disappointments in 2009, it was a banner year for positive legislation affecting the LGBT community, with as many positive bills passed this past year as in 2007 and 2008 combined. The report also details expectations for 2010.

Download the Report from HRC Here
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For Transgender Community, Names Are More Than Just Names

Katherine used to be Miguel. Olin had a girl’s name. And in October, Robert Ira Schnur, 70, became Roberta Iris Schnur, a Manhattan retiree with magenta lipstick and, she noted the other day, chipped silver nail polish. “I wasn’t like other men,” she said.

Theirs are among hundreds of names a Manhattan court has changed over the last few years for transgender New Yorkers. That tally, specialists in the relatively new field of transgender law say, may make the borough’s workaday Civil Court one of the country’s biggest official name swappers — male names for female, vice versa and ambiguous.

Changing a name might seem like a minor matter for those who are changing their gender identities and, for some, facing challenges like finding knowledgeable doctors, trying hormones and experimenting with painful hair-removal procedures. But many who have gone through the switch say a name change sends an important message to the world, a message solidified and made official with a court’s approval.

Full Story from the San Francisco Sentinel
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NY: Governor Paterson Bans Discrimination Against Transgender State Employees

Governor David Paterson received a standing ovation at the LGBT Community Center in lower Manhattan earlier today as he signed an executive order to ban discrimination against transgender state employees. "For far too long... the transgender community has had to wait for the same equality others enjoy based on employment," he said. "That ends today." Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan Van Capelle, Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Melissa Sklarz of the New York Transgender Rights Organization, Glennda Testone of the Center and Pauline Park of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy were among those who joined Paterson on the stage. State Sen. Tom Duane, state Assemblymembers Deborah Glick, Dick Gottfried, Micah Kellner and Danny O’Donnell and City Councilmember-elect Danny Dromm were also in attendance. "Transgender people, like all New Yorkers, need stability, and it starts in the workplace," Sklarz said. Full Story from Edge Boston: http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=100172

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UT: Salt Lake County to Consider LGBT Housing, Employment Protections

The state's most populous county is poised to follow the capital city next week in passing new protections for gay and transgender residents. The Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday will consider a pair of statutes that offer protections against discrimination based on sexual preference and gender identity in the areas of housing and employment. While the county has had more general anti-discrimination laws on the books for decades, the new proposals extend them and were adapted from two ordinances unanimously adopted by the Salt Lake City Council last month. On Friday, Salt Lake County Council Chairman Joe Hatch praised the city for passing the new laws and opening doors with the decision. "I totally salute the efforts of Salt Lake City and the hard work they've done," he said. "It's clearly paved the way for this to be a successful and uncontroversial issue for the county." Full Story from Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705350965/Salt-Lake-County-to-consider-anti-bias-proposals.html

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US House Close to Passage of LGBT Health Coverage, Job Protection Bills

Two of Congress’s three openly gay members said Saturday that the U.S. House is poised to pass bills to provide health coverage for the same-sex partners of gay federal workers and to protect all gay and transgender employees from job discrimination. Speaking to an international conference of gay politicians in San Francisco, U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., said they expect a domestic partner benefits bill to come up for a vote by the end of the year and the employment bill to reach the floor early in 2010. The lawmakers said they are also confident that the House will include in the annual military spending bill next year a provision to repeal the law that bans gays from serving in the U.S. military. All the measures face a harder time in the Senate following the death of longtime ally Sen. Edward Kennedy, but Baldwin and Polis said they remained optimistic Senate leaders would . Full Story from Targana.com: http://blog.taragana.com/business/2009/12/05/gay-house-members-say-votes-are-near-on-bills-to-extend-benefits-protect-gay-workers-7342/

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OH: Cleveland Adds Transgender to List of Protected Classes in Housing & Employment

Existing city codes prohibit businesses from denying jobs or housing to citizens for reasons of age, race, religion or sexual orientation. Activists in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community had lobbied for more than a year to include gender identity and expression. The unanimous vote was the latest step the council has taken to demonstrate a more tolerant atmosphere -- one that helped the city land the 2014 Gay Games, an international competition. Councilman Joe Santiago introduced the ordinance last year, about the same time that the council began considering a domestic partner registry that allows same- and opposite-sex couples to declare a relationship without marriage. Full Story from Out in Toledo: http://www.outintoledo.com/home/news.asp?articleid=33738

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UT: Poll Says 60% Support Anti Discrimination Laws Statewide for Gays

A new poll shows some 69 percent of Utahns think state lawmakers and Gov. Gary Herbert should push to pass statewide anti-discrimination laws to protect gays. The Deseret News/KSL TV poll of 408 Utahns comes after the Salt Lake City Council passed ordinances banning discrimination against gays in housing and employment. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints backed the measures, which include exemptions for religious organizations. In the poll, 69 percent of respondents said the Legislature should follow Salt Lake City's lead. Just 28 percent opposed an anti-discrimination proposal. Full Story from NewsOK: http://www.newsok.com/poll-most-utahns-back-anti-bias-laws-for-gays/article/feed/111922

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SC: Charleston Passes Nondiscrimination Laws

The city of Charleston, South Carolina has passed two ordinances prohibiting housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression, according to The Advocate. The passage of the laws is a sign of real progress in a mostly anti-gay rights state. Charleston is the second city in the GOP-dominated state to pass such laws, following in the footsteps of the state capitol, Columbia. The ordinances were presented to the mayor's office in August by members of Charleston's Alliance For Full Acceptance (AFFA), SC Stonewall Democrats, SC Log Cabin Republicans, the American Civil Liberties Union and South Carolina Equality and passed on Tuesday. South Carolina Equality lauded the news, saying,  "All across South Carolina, we are celebrating this historic victory for all families as Charleston joins Columbia as the second city in the state to enact such nondiscrimination ordinances. These pro-business ordinances are consistent with the values of Charlestonians; they send the clear message that Charleston welcomes families from all walks of life." Full Story from the Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-4107-International-LGBT-Issues-Examiner~y2009m11d26-South-Carolina-city-passes-gay-nondiscrimination-laws

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FL: Tampa Approves Expansion of Anti Discrimination Laws to Transgender Citizens

On Thursday the Tampa City Council voted to expand anti-discrimination laws to include transgender individuals. The 5-1 vote came after two hours and more than 60 speakers spoke expressed their thoughts and feelings on the issue in what at times seemed to be a festival of hate and ignorance. Before the meeting, the only drama in the room was who if any Council members would reverse their vote from two weeks prior, when they had voted unanimously to include gender identity and expression in the city’s human rights law, which would effectively prohibit workplace discrimination against people who change genders. Councilman Charlie Miranda was the lone member who switched his vote and voted no. (Councilmember Linda Saul-Sena was absent). He seemed unsatisfied by the answers given by City Attorney Chip Fletcher about how the new law could avoid potential disruptions in the workplace before casting his dissenting vote. Full Story from Creative Loafing: http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/2009/11/19/after-two-hours-of-ignorance-and-prejudice-tampa-city-council-appproves-transgendered-people-to-human-rights-ordinance/

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Fort Worth, Texas Considering Domestic Partner, Transgender Benefits

Conservative groups are rallying against proposals aimed at making Fort Worth government policies more inclusive of the gay community. The proposals include extending domestic-partner benefits to gay couples, considering a company’s record on gay and lesbian issues when approving tax breaks, and including gender reassignment surgery in the city health insurance plan. City employees would also receive training on dealing with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The recommendations came from a task force appointed after the inspection and arrests at the Rainbow Lounge, a gay bar. Many of those provisions are already in place in other cities and in major corporations. Dallas, Austin and El Paso offer health insurance to domestic partners, as do 59 percent of Fortune 500 companies, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Tarrant County cities such as Arlington, North Richland Hills and Grapevine do not. Full Story from The Star-Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com/local_news/story/1743546.html

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Uruguay Considering Gender Identity Respect Law

The tiny South American nation of Uruguay continues to outpace America in the arena of GLBT equality: after allowing gays to serve in the military and preparing the way for family equality in the realm of adoptions for same-sex parents, Uruguay is now on the way to approving a law that respects each individual’s gender identity. Though most people identify with their anatomical gender, there are some who feel that their true selves are trapped in bodies of the wrong sex. Such transgendered individuals have become more visible in recent years, but in the United States they, like gays and lesbians, are afforded only limited rights and protections relevant to their status as sexual minorities. To date, there are no federal protections in place for transgendered citizens, just as not federal statutes offer protection to gays and lesbians. Full Story from Edge Boston: http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=96676

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