Transsexual Wins Discrimination Suit

(AP)  A former Army Special Forces commander passed over for a job as a terrorism analyst at the Library of Congress because he was in the process of becoming a she won a discrimination lawsuit on Friday.

U.S. District Judge James Robinson ruled that the Library of Congress discriminated against Diane Schroer of Alexandria, Va., by not giving her the job after the former David Schroer disclosed he would start becoming Diane before beginning the new job.

"The evidence establishes that the Library was enthusiastic about hiring David Schroer - until she disclosed her transsexuality," Robinson wrote in his decision. "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."'

Advocates called the ruling groundbreaking because a federal judge has now ruled that discriminating against someone for changing genders is sex discrimination under federal law.

"The court got it exactly right, sending a loud and clear message to employers everywhere: if you fire or refused to hire someone for transitioning, you are guilty of sex discrimination and may well find yourself liable," said Sharon McGowan, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who helped with the case.

The Justice Department is reviewing the judge's ruling, spokesman Charles Miller said.

Schroer sued in 2005 alleging sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act.

"It is especially gratifying that the court has ruled that discriminating against someone for transitioning is illegal," Schroer said after hearing about the decision.

The Library of Congress and the Justice Department argued that discrimination because of transsexuality was not illegal sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act.

But Robinson disagreed. "The Library's refusal to hire Schroer after being advised that she planned to change her anatomical sex by undergoing sex reassignment surgery was literally discrimination 'because of . . . sex,"' the judge wrote.

Schroer said in the Army she was director of the classified group that tracked and targeted terrorists, and she briefed high-level officials such as Vice President Dick Cheney. After retiring from the military, David Schroer interviewed for the Congressional Research Service job at the Library of Congress and got an offer in December 2004.

Schroer said during a lunch with Charlotte Preece, a Library of Congress official, he explained the upcoming medical transition to become a woman. Schroer testified Preece called the next day and said the position would not be a "good fit".

The judge will decide on the penalties in the case later.

[jankebenz]

jankebenz, your god made them neither male nor female, and obviously, that''''s what he intended or he would not have done it. That''''s what''''s really upsetting, it''''s the fact that god does not make every single human being either male or female. That''''s what threatens the very core of your irrational belief system: pure unadulterated facts.

Posted by Voltaire777 at 07:54 PM : Sep 20, 2008

The only irrationality here is your posts,read them.You blame God for imperfection, yet at the same time you profess to be an atheist?????
Do you, or do you not believe in God? You can,t have it both ways, or are you an inter believer?

As for intersex,thats just a term the qay community came up with to try and justify and explain their immoral behavior, in the medical profession such abnormalities are referred to as birth defects. Being born as a male or female involves much more than genitals. Some basic knowledge in biology and anthropology will clear your mix up.

[babooph]

Oops "special forces guy" I assumed it would be a family values politician-figured they wanted to fully understand BOTH sides of a marriage.

[dewbug2]

regardless means without regard.
flammable means some substance will burn (with the right application of heat.)
so, "IR regardless" means NOT without regard.(as in "irresponsible")
"IN flammable" means not flammable, like "IN - sane" means not sane, like you twits who are the product of the dumbing of America.
You show what you have learned via the "free education in public schools" stated verbatim in the Communist Manifesto.Bet you don''t know you are dumb *****, do you?......now, go back and watch your idiot boxes like nice little automatons and believe all that electioneering *** you''re being fed from BOTH sides.again.

[puzzler125]

Would you change your mind about hiring someone if they had gone through the following: divorce, death of a spouse, death of a child, death of a parent, cancer or other life-threatening illness, or any number other "major psychological" events which happen daily in people''s lives? I thought so...

[dowjones20k]

Interesting that the reporter included nothing on how the change would certainly be a mental challenge for this indivdiual ... since the interview was conducted while the intervieweee was a man ...

then said he would be reporting to work as a female .. that seems to be a bit of an issue ..

Certainly the psychological aspect of this change is not like any other surgery .. and the employer was right in being concerned for the mental aspect of this surgery ..... So while the judge may have felt it was sexual discrimination .. the judge seems to have disregarded the transistion for this may be taxing on the candidate .. as well as detrimental to the employer in this individuals performance.

It is sad that the individual may have very well lied on the application if he used his male name instead of her female name which would have been a violation of most application processes .. not to mention the excessive time off the tranny would need to heal from the surgery ..

The employer did not hire a Diane they hired David ...

But leave it to some progressive judge to force an obvious mental case on the employer and the taxpayers ...

I dont care if Dave wants to be Diane .. but to force Diane on the employer when the surgery had not even taken place is preposterous.

[jankebenz]

I don''''t know why I bother reading or commenting on these any more - most of it is the same old knee jerk reactions from idiots who have so many problems of their own that they should be the last people to start throwing stones at the glass house. This is more of the same: he/she isn''''t attractive, it''''s a mental disorder, he''''s just gay and can''''t admit it, blah blah blah. Read some real scientific papers that don''''t come from a book written a couple thousand years ago. I doubt Johnny Church would believe any of it (the LIBERALS control all science just like they do the media) but at least there would be some FACT knocking around in their skulls for a change.

Posted by akaKJB at 01:44 PM : Sep 20, 2008

I see that modern scientific "facts" are improving society to a utopia of ideal living. Millions of drunks,druggies,thieves, immorals,low lifes are found everywhere. These "facts" are confusing people so bad they''re mating and marrying with the same gender or want to change to the opposite seks.These type of "facts" need to be knocked out of skulls and refilled with the truth''s and good old fashioned commonsense from that old book.

[rwsmith29456]

The verdict is not surprising. That''s pretty blatant sexual discrimination. If he/she is as screwed up as you say, somebody should have gotten a psychiatrist to testify. Nothing about the trial says ''screwed up''. It says he was going to get the job when he was a he, but they changed their mind when he became a she. Whoever made that decision not to hire him should be punished, demoted, whatever. I don''t see how anybody could have thought such a decision would fly.

[lynxha]

Bravo for the court and the Justice Departmert. There is no reason to discriminate against anyone for wanting to fit to their own mind and body

[akakjb]

I don''t know why I bother reading or commenting on these any more - most of it is the same old knee jerk reactions from idiots who have so many problems of their own that they should be the last people to start throwing stones at the glass house. This is more of the same: he/she isn''t attractive, it''s a mental disorder, he''s just gay and can''t admit it, blah blah blah. Read some real scientific papers that don''t come from a book written a couple thousand years ago. I doubt Johnny Church would believe any of it (the LIBERALS control all science just like they do the media) but at least there would be some FACT knocking around in their skulls for a change.

[spiritwalk]

irregardless is the same as inflammable. They are proper words but are without any real value. regardless and flammable are proper and need no prefix.