Transgender

Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” I have been injured on another person’s property. What should I do now?”

Last week Charlotte’s City Council voted against an ordinance that supporters said would have ended sexual discrimination. Opponents of the ordinance—many of whom turned out to comment publically at the council’s meeting on the issue—said interest groups behind the proposed ordinance want to “force their idea of gender” on the public.

The most controversial part of the ordinance “would have allowed transgendered people to go into any public bathroom they chose,” according to Charlotte’s WSOC-TV. That language was removed from the proposed ordinance prior to the council’s vote, leading ordinance supporters like council member John Autry to vote against the proposal. The bathroom portion of the ordinance was too important, Autry told WSOC-TV, to leave out.

Many private companies, including New Hampshire-based Planet Fitness, allow transgendered persons to use facilities of their choice.

Last week, a Michigan woman—Yvette Cormier—complained to Planet Fitness staff at the company’s Midland, Michigan location that she witnessed a man changing in the woman’s locker room on two occasions. According to the Daily Mail, Planet Fitness staff members told Cormier that the individual was transsexual and was permitted to use the woman’s locker room.

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What happens when the employer refuses to acknowledge my claim?”

Military regulations require the immediate dismissal of any service member who is found to be transgender. That is placing the some 15,500 transgender people serving in the military in a quandary, and forcing peers, supervisors and military doctors who are aware of members’ status to “look the other way,” according to sources and advocates interviewed by the Washington Post.

Political leaders from President Barack Obama to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have expressed support for examining the ban and, potentially, lifting it. The Pentagon, however, told the Post that no review was underway, and Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, worries that transgender service members are being lulled into a false sense of security.

She said openly transgender service members risk losing their jobs. Some two dozen service members have been discharged in the past two years after their transgender status was uncovered, according to advocates.

Military leaders are focused now on more urgent priorities such as the conflict with the Islamic State raging in Iraq and Syria and looming budget cuts. Army Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock told the Post that the military will eventually “do the right thing” by allowing transgender service members to serve openly. The change is just not going to occur as soon as some would like.

Articles Tagged with Transgender

Gym membership revoked after complaint about transgender woman in women’s room

Transgender military members face termination for becoming who they are