Tag Archives: gender
States protecting sex segregation and gender identity at the same time!
Using the chart of state gender identity laws that I posted on this site in 2013,* I am highlighting here the states in which gender identity laws have been passed and, at the same time, protection for certain forms of sex-segregation is explicitly allowed by the same or a related statute. (To see the full […]
What does the “E” in TERF really mean? Or, sex segregated spaces: excluded from where? And why?
[Edit 2/24/2015: I originally made this chart as a means of parsing what the ‘E’ in TERF actually means. So I have changed the title to include the term TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist). The two central questions are: what exactly are transwomen being excluded from (where)? what is the purpose of that exclusion (why)? […]
Excerpt: Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine
Chapter 17, pages 190-196: regarding the fallacy of gender-neutral parenting. _______________________ It’s made me think a lot more about genetic influence, she’s got two X chromosomes, and that somehow, I don’t know, because we don’t push the Barbie stuff at all, in fact I would prefer her not to have it… so I’m kind of […]
If “transwomen are women”…then what does being a woman mean?
The maxim “trans women are women” is a false equivalency that means at least three things. First, it means that being raised as girl from birth is not an important or relevant aspect of being a “woman” because one can be a woman without these formative experiences. Second, it means that having a female body is not an important or relevant aspect of being […]
A disparate impact analysis of gender’s social liability
A lot of people think gender is really cool. They might celebrate gender “diversity.” Or they might believe that legal protection for “gender identity” and “gender expression” is a fundamental human right because it is a shortcut for deconstructing sex stereotypes–it’s not. But at the very least, most people view gender as neutral. Harmless, really. […]
DELAWARE joins MA and CT with “improper purpose” limitation on “gender identity” protections
Delaware joined 16 other US states this week by passing anti-discrimination protections for “gender identity.” The good news is that some reasonable limitations were added by eleventh hour amendment to the legislation. The central problem with “gender identity” legislation is still implicated by the definition itself because it directly overrides sex and is self-referential (gender is gender). Let’s take […]
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS? SEX, RELIGION, AND TRANSGENDER IDENTITY UNDER TITLE VII (excerpt)
This is an excerpt of Sue Landsittel’s article Strange Bedfellows? Sex, Religion, and Transgender Identity Under Title VII, 104 NW. U. L. REV. 1147 (2010). The full article can be read here. ____________________________________________________ IV. TALKING ABOUT “SEX” LIKE RELIGION Cases like Smith and Schroer demonstrate that courts are beginning to read Title VII in a more transgender-protective way. In doing so, […]
Advanced topics in “gender identity:” improper purpose, male nudity, and basic fraud prevention
Popular progressive political discourse, fueled by the sloppy legal strategy of LGBT organizations, insists that adding “gender identity” to existing anti-discrimination statutes by legislative amendment is an urgent and necessary legal protection for transgendered and other gender non-conforming people. In fact, however, judicial interpretation of sex discrimination law already prohibits gender-related sex-stereotyping. More than being benignly redundant, […]
Improper purpose, an introduction to the concept.
The language of “gender identity” legislation is fraught with confusion. The complexity of issues swirling around reproductive sex and its connection (or lack thereof) to gender requires extreme attention to terminology and a delicate balancing of interests. Feminist legal critique demands that women’s need for sex-segregated boundaries be both recognized and weighed against the violent enforcement […]
Sex matters. 