Obama White House Not Appealing Transgender Ruling

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is not fighting a nearly $500,000 judgment for a Library of Congress hiree who lost the job while undergoing a gender change from a man to a woman.

The Justice Department let the deadline to appeal the decision pass Tuesday, a day after President Barack Obama hosted gay supporters at the White House and promised to be their "champion." Some activists have complained he has not led on their causes, including ending the ban on gays in the military.

Diane Schroer, a retired Army Special Forces commander from Alexandria, Va., had been offered a job at the Library of Congress when he was a man, David Schroer. The job was rescinded the day after Schroer told a library official he was going to have an operation to become a woman.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Schroer's behalf in 2005, and two months ago a federal judge awarded her $491,190 in back pay and damages because of sex discrimination.

The Library of Congress and President George W. Bush's Justice Department had argued unsuccessfully that discrimination because of transsexuality was not illegal sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act.

Schroer said she saw the administration's decision not to appeal as a recognition that transgender discrimination must end and "gives me renewed hope and restores some of my shaken faith in what our country stands for."

"This case put employers on notice that discrimination against transgender individuals is like any other form of discrimination _ counterproductive and against our principles as a nation," she said in a statement. But she added that Congress must pass a law preventing "rampant" transgender discrimination across the country.

Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler put the solicitor general's decision not to appeal the ruling in legal, not political, terms.

"The District Court's detailed factual findings, as well as its alternate legal holdings, make this case a poor vehicle to contest the underlying issues," she said.

Schroer is a former U.S. Army colonel who directed a classified group that tracked and targeted terrorists. Schroer retired in 2004 after 25 years of service and worked briefly in the private sector before applying for the Congressional Research Service job at the Library of Congress.

After being offered the job, Schroer had lunch with a Library of Congress official and explained the upcoming surgery. Schroer testified the official called the next day and said the position would not be a "good fit."

The ACLU said the decision not to appeal fits with Obama's campaign promises to protect transgender workers against discrimination and his administration's recent order taking steps to bar gender identity discrimination in federal employment.

"The administration's decision not to challenge this important civil rights ruling is a welcome sign that it intends to live up to its commitment to help end transgender discrimination in the workplace," said Sharon McGowan, a staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project.

Comments

[WindySailor]

Since requirements for the job in question had nothing at all to do with gender, letting the judgment stand was the right decision.

[S1m0n]

A suit that isn't appealed doesn't make it to a court high enough to set a precedent or change the law.

[NWBrunette]

Sweet, and welcome. Not following through on the rampant idiocy of the bush administration is surely something everyone expects. Hopefully we'll continue to see substantive progress.

[Dupree]

Homosexuality was an accepted practice back in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is clearly state that the majority of the men in that town was attracted to men...even to the degree that they would force themselves on other non-consenting men. I do not bring this up to stir up anger or dismay...just to remind us that there is nothing new under the sun. And that there is a compass in life that is not in the hands of men...but God. I look at life and I do not fully understand the nuance of our existence on this planet. I do know that we can not always define terms in the strict structure of "right and wrong" for that does not address the bigger picture of life. I do not claim to understand tortured souls who find themselves in "awkward places" in life. And it gets even more obscure by the hatefulness and judgmental components that cloud what is really going on in the atmosphere of our world. As one one wise man once said and I quote..."There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end..it leads to death." This is a profound truth to not only heterosexuals but homosexuals as well.

We actually think that we can impose our definitions of life on God and he needs to conform to our thinking rather than the other way around.

[FallenAngelII]

How about you lead your life according to how God would want you to and let me lead mine without imposing "God's will" on me seeing as how I'm not even a Christian?

I could care less what the Bible or his church says. And neither should any lawmaker.

[LiberalBuzz]

Exactly WHY should YOUR God tell me how to live since I don't believe in it anyway?

WHEN did you and yours decided YOUR God was the one to give orders to us?

Here's a quarter, go buy yourself a clue.

[julia23]

My friends God says we all have to dance around campfires, naked, painted blue.

[day79dreamer]

Thank you Will for your comment. I have been trying to make the same point to anyone who will listen to me.

[hapiday]

"KLordsha...it is taking a long time for this thread to blow up....I'm still being patient...I'm sure they'll be here soon."

Good job for the Obama Adminstration. It's nice in here right now. Everyone is being cordial and acting like adults. But, oh no around 9:45pm that cut and past person will be coming in to high jack the thread. It will be ad hominid this, and ad hominid that...cut and paste...cut and paste.

[pakaal]

"President George W. Bush's Justice Department had argued unsuccessfully that discrimination because of transsexuality was not illegal sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act."

Right, it's not OK to discriminate against people who are women, but OK to discriminate against people who become women. George, you're making my brain hurt again, stop that.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

Imagine that: A DOJ that follows the law and respects a well-reasoned district court opinion:

"Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler put the solicitor general's decision not to appeal the ruling in legal, not political, terms.

"The District Court's detailed factual findings, as well as its alternate legal holdings, make this case a poor vehicle to contest the underlying issues," she said."

I LOVE it.

[lianmolive]

I can't believe the Bush Admin even tried to fight this.

This is discrimination... who can anyone not see this?

[LostRiverLedger]

More to the point, its breech of contract.

[denicci1977]

What part of someone being fired because of their gender no matter what their gender is (changed or not) did the Bush Admin NOT UNDERSTAND ?

[nancy50]

This is the "fierce advocate" I was expecting. Kudos.

[rainbowblue]

no this isn't the "fierce advocate", this is the politician patching some holes before the next round comes. Now he can point to this and say "look I told the DOJ to stand down, I like transgendered people..." while in the mean time he won't fight for transgendered people to be included in ENDA.

To be exicted for him to do the right thing is like applauding somone for doing their job.

[RonNYC]

we are very happy about this:
http://www.transgendered.net

[WillieLynch]

I am not that liberal

[JoeSchmuk]

You mean - your just that bigoted.

[pakaal]

If you're not THAT liberal, which liberal are you? Actually, never mind, I'm not that interested.

[LostRiverLedger]

Once again proving that we are all capable of having irrational prejudices­.....usual­ly based in ignorance, but rarely mitigated by the admission that we simply don't understand, but want to know more in the hope that we will at least have.....at the very least.... empathy.

[CigarGod]

One for the plus column!

Have a cigar, Prez and DOJ.

[Matt Carter]

This is a welcome change of pace. Transgender folks remain one of the most maligned minorities (if not THE most maligned) in the country right now, so it's at least somewhat refreshing to see this administration, which has such as awful history as of late with GLBT issues, finally doing the right thing.

HOWEVER (and you knew it was coming), I see one potential fly in the ointment, and it is regrettably one that is entirely consistent with this DOJ's strategy on GLBT rights. They now have a perfect argument against further anti-discrimination laws, since they will claim that Title VII now protects gender as well as sex. Of course, by not appealing this ruling, they have ensured that it will not become binding law on future courts considering this question, meaning . . .

When the next transgender Title VII lawsuit comes up (and it will), you can rest assured this DOJ will argue that transgender individuals are not subject to the protections of Title VII. If they don't, I'll eat my hat.

[jcwtts1]

And if they had appealed the case and written a brief what would your stance be then, that the brief proved that the LGBT community couldn't trust the white house... again? So no matter what they do, the DOJ and the White House are wrong? How about this, the Obama administration extended rights and protections to transgendered federal employees, a first. The extension of rights is a de facto admission of protected status.