• The fight over transgender rights in school restrooms intensifies

    The fight over transgender rights in school restrooms intensifies

    Feb 22, 2016 09:49 PM EDT

    ... brought successful sex discrimination claims under the 1964 Civil Rights Act and due process clause of the Constitution, according to Dru Levasseur, who directs the Transgender Rights Project at LGBT legal group Lambda Legal. "We know that transgender people are protected under federal law, and there seems to be some ...

  • South Dakota bill would restrict transgender students' access to restrooms

    South Dakota bill would restrict transgender students' access to restrooms

    Feb 17, 2016 09:15 PM EDT

    UPDATED 3:14 p.m. EST Feb. 18 | South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced Wednesday that he would meet with transgender students and LGBT activists from the Center for Equality before making a decision to sign into law a bill that would restrict transgender students’ access to restrooms in public ...

  • House lawmakers create new transgender equality task force

    House lawmakers create new transgender equality task force

    Nov 17, 2015 10:43 PM EDT

    WASHINGTON -- A group of lawmakers kicked off a new congressional task force for transgender rights on Tuesday with the first-ever congressional forum on transgender life in the U.S. The LGBT Equality Caucus announced the creation of the Transgender Equality Task Force last week. It is chaired by Rep ...

  • Chicago school district discriminated against transgender student, report says

    Chicago school district discriminated against transgender student, report says

    Nov 04, 2015 10:34 PM EDT

    ... to locker rooms for transgender students is at the center of debate in several states. The Palatine case is being looked at by many as a test case for the entire country. Illinois is one of several states that prohibits discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment and public accommodations.

  • Obama administration plan protects transgender community's access to healthcare

    Obama administration plan protects transgender community's access to healthcare

    Sep 03, 2015 07:33 PM EDT

    ... says is they cannot exclude transgender people from the services that other people have," said Harper Jean Tobin, policy director for the National Center for Transgender Equality. Currently, 10 states plus Washington, D.C., require private insurers to cover transgender health care, while six states plus the nation's capital ...

  • White House hires its first openly transgender staffer

    White House hires its first openly transgender staffer

    Aug 18, 2015 04:29 PM EDT

    ... Tuesday. Freedman-Gurspan is an outreach and recruitment director for presidential personnel in the Office of Personnel. Transgender advocates say she is the first openly transgender official to serve in the White House. Freedman-Gurspan previously was a policy adviser for the National Center for Transgender Equality's racial and ...

  • World’s first transgender modeling agency to open this summer

    World’s first transgender modeling agency to open this summer

    Jul 29, 2015 08:35 PM EDT

    At a time when transgender models are gaining more recognition than ever, Thailand-based firm Apple Model Management is set to open the world’s first modeling agency for transgender models this summer in Los Angeles. The agency began representing transgender models in 2014 and its new branch in L ...

  • Poet creates first class for transgender poetry

    Poet creates first class for transgender poetry

    Jul 27, 2015 09:39 PM EDT

    ... of literature are very comfortable approaching transgender subject matter as theory, or as types of metaphor. But there’s very little study of literature by transgender people," she said. But that has the potential to change as new publications and conferences move to create spaces where transgender poets can be ...

  • Transgender people still denied health services despite Affordable Care Act

    Transgender people still denied health services despite Affordable Care Act

    Jul 23, 2015 06:52 PM EDT

    ... medically sensitive to our transgender members before, during and after their transition,” Espinal said. Advocates say their goal is to add new categories, such as ”transgender man,” or “transgender woman,” into insurance application forms, as well as into research, to get a more accurate picture of the number of transgender ...

  • Pentagon announces plan aimed to lift transgender ban

    Pentagon announces plan aimed to lift transgender ban

    Jul 13, 2015 10:05 PM EDT

    WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the Pentagon's current regulations banning transgender individuals from serving in the military are outdated, and anyone willing to serve the country should be able to do so. Carter is creating a working group to do a six-month study on the impact of ...