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Every young person is entitled by law to an education. When school environments are hostile to any student—because of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity—we fail in our responsibility to provide that education.

“A transgender student must be able to bring his or her whole self to school in order to learn,” says Jennifer Levi, director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project.

“When we advocate for transgender students to be called by the correct name, to be free from bullying and harassment, or to have access to bathrooms and locker rooms according to their gender, we do so because these are essential
components of an effective learning environment.”

Levi is helping to shepherd five different amicus briefs filed in support of Gavin Grimm, the high school student in the ACLU case G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, which will be heard before the U.S.
Supreme Court in March. Grimm’s education is being disrupted by his school’s refusal to let him use the proper bathroom.

One brief is being written on behalf of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, the nation’s leading clinics specializing in serving transgender youth, Dr. Norman Spack of Boston Children’s Hospital, and a number of other prominent doctors and medical and policy organizations with expertise in adolescent and transgender health issues.

It closely examines research on child development of identity, and the role of schools in advancing—or
thwarting—healthy development.

“The brief makes the case that being able to use the same bathroom as other students at school is critical for the healthy development of transgender adolescents—as it is for all adolescents—and therefore central to an effective educational environment,” says Levi. GLAD also recently worked with Colby Patrie, a student at Northern Essex Community College (NECC) in Massachusetts, to make the campus a more welcoming place for transgender students.

“Community colleges offer open access to affordable academic and workforce training programs,” says senior staff attorney Polly Crozier. “It is critical that these community institutions are inclusive to all including transgender students.”

The college’s policy did not allow all transgender women to use the women’s facilities and all transgender men to use the men’s facilities. And with no all-gender bathrooms on the classroom side of campus, students had to choose between going to the bathroom and going to class. The alternative was using a bathroom where they felt uncomfortable or unsafe.

“The facilities policy caused confusion, fear, and shame on campus,” says Colby. “I really felt it needed to change, to let transgender students know that the school respects, values and includes us.”

GLAD worked to bring NECC in line with state and federal law, sending a demand letter to the school which read in part, “NECC’s current policy is out of step with virtually every other entity in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…[including] elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, employers, landlords…hospitals, gyms, homeless shelters and swimming pools.”

Following the demand letter, NECC changed this policy—and another policy affecting transgender students and their ability to use the correct name in school records.

Transgender students of color can experience multiple forms of discrimination that exacerbate their isolation and mistreatment in school. In search of a better education for her children, Hartford,
Connecticut mom Shabree enrolled her child Aryana in the South Windsor Public Schools through the Open Choice program. But nearly as soon as Aryana stepped in the door of her new school, she was
subjected to disproportionate discipline and overt racial and gender bias.

The South Windsor public schools’ mission statement calls for an emotionally and physically safe environment. Shabree’s repeated attempts to work with the school administration to address the escalating problems were futile. Aryana, she says, “despised going to school every day.”

With Greater Hartford Legal Aid, GLAD helped the family file a complaint with the Connecticut Human Rights Commission, and tell their story to the local media. Even though Aryana ended up leaving South Windsor, her case brought to light systemic problems in the school, and empowered both Aryana and Shabree.

“Life is way too short to settle, to just conform to what society wants you to be,” says Shabree. Aryana agrees:

“Don’t be the person inside the box. Step outside, and be yourself.”

It’s every child’s right to learn, and to learn while being themselves.

GLAD Applauds Removal of American Family Association from CT State Charitable Campaign for Failure to Comply with Non-Discrimination Requirement

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Today, Connecticut state Comptroller Kevin Lembo announced that the American Family Association (AFA) would no longer be part of the Connecticut State Employees Campaign. The AFA refused to provide the state with a copy of its non-discrimination policy, which is required of all organizations participating in the campaign.

When Comptroller Lembo requested the policy last month, his office was hit with thousands of emails, phone calls, and tweets from AFA’s supporters. Some directed homophobic slurs against Lembo, an openly gay public servant.

“The American Family Association has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center,” said Jennifer Levi, Senior Staff Attorney for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “It took courage for the Comptroller simply to do his job and request that they meet the same requirements as all other CSEC groups. The citizens of Connecticut can be proud that they live in a state that embraces all its citizens.”

GLAD Announces New Board Officers

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GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) will kick off 2017 with new leadership on its Board of Directors. At its December meeting the board voted in Richard J. Yurko as the new President, Joyce Kauffman as the Vice President, Darian Butcher as the Clerk, and David Hayter as the Treasurer. Yurko replaces Dianne Phillips, who served as board president for the past five years, and who will remain on the board.

Yurko, who previously served as Vice President, has been on GLAD’s board since 2009. He is the founder and former Managing Shareholder of Yurko, Salvesen & Remz, P.C., a business litigation boutique based in Boston. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was Senior Projects Editor for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Yurko frequently writes and advocates on First Amendment issues. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his partner.

“I’m honored and humbled to become board president at this critical time for our community and for GLAD,” said Yurko. “The priorities laid out by our new strategic plan – racial and economic justice, state level public policy, and access to justice – are particularly apt. Our work is more critical than ever before. Reaching all in our community and joining forces with other progressive movements is essential to defending our rights and making still further advances towards equality.”

Joyce Kauffman is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law. She is a founding member of the National Family Law Advisory Council, a member of the Family Equality Emeritus Board, and a frequent speaker and writer on LGBTQ family law. Kauffman has received numerous awards, including Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s “Lawyer of the Year” in 2009, the Gwen Bloomingdale Pioneer Spirit Award, and the Fisher Davenport Award. Her firm, Kauffman Law & Mediation, focuses in the areas of adoption, assisted reproductive technology, and mediation. Kauffman has been on GLAD’s board since 2012.

Darian M. Butcher is an Associate at Day Pitney LLP. She represents mortgage companies, loan servicers, and other financial institutions in the defense of claims by borrowers. She also represents individual and corporate clients in probate controversies. Butcher earned her J.D. from Boston University School of Law and clerked for Massachusetts Appeals Court Justice Malcolm Graham (ret). She has been on GLAD’s board since 2014.

David Hayter has held executive and finance positions at Liberty Mutual, Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan, and Manulife/John Hancock. At Liberty Mutual, he was the founding co-executive sponsor of the company’s first LGBT Employee Resource Group. He holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, and brings to GLAD knowledge and experience in investments, accounting, and finance. Hayter has served on the boards of Wave Accounting, Community Servings, St. John’s Hospital Foundation, and the Wilfrid Laurier University Board of Governors.

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GLAD Publishes Toolkit to Assist Transgender People Making Changes

Last week, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law a bill that updates the state’s birth certificate procedures, enabling transgender people to change their birth certificates to the appropriate gender without having to undergo invasive and sometimes unnecessary surgical requirements.

“This is a critically important advance for Connecticut’s transgender citizens,” said Jennifer Levi, Director of the Transgender Rights Project for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “When transgender people cannot obtain identity documents that match their gender identity, they become vulnerable to discrimination, harassment, and violence.”

GLAD has published a toolkit to assist transgender people who wish to change the gender marker on their Connecticut birth certificate. The toolkit is available at https://www.gladlaw.org/rights/toolkit/connecticut-birth-certificate-tool-kit

The new law eliminates a Department of Health requirement that people show proof of surgery before changing the gender marker on their birth certificate. This burdensome condition denied recognition to numerous people including those who did not have medical need of or could not afford such a procedure.

The new process allows an appropriate range of healthcare professionals to provide letters in support of the request to correct a person’s birth certificate.. The criteria for correction is “surgical, hormonal, or other treatment appropriate to the individual for the purpose of gender transition.”

H.B. No. 7006 passed the Senate by a vote of 32-3 and the House by a vote of 126-18.

GLAD worked on the legislation in a coalition with the ACLU of Connecticut, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, True Colors, Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, and others.

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Earlier this week the Connecticut Department of Social Services updated state regulations to require Medicaid to cover treatment for Gender Dysphoria.

Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi, who led GLAD’s work with state allies to advocate for the new regulations, applauded the update:

“This change affirms the overwhelming medical consensus that gender reassignment surgery and other related procedures are essential health care services, and will ensure more transgender people in Connecticut will have access to necessary care.”

Connecticut joins Massachusetts, California, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington D.C. in removing barriers to Medicaid coverage for treatment related to Gender Dysphoria. Last year, the federal Medicare program also removed a categorical exclusion of gender reassignment surgery from its coverage, following advocacy by GLAD, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

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同性恋倡导与捍卫者组织（GLAD）代表康涅狄格州米尔福德市的杰拉尔德·帕萨罗（Gerald Passaro）对总部位于匹兹堡的拜耳公司提起诉讼。帕萨罗的已故丈夫托马斯·巴克霍尔兹（Thomas Buckholz）曾在拜耳公司担任化学家超过20年。拜耳公司以帕萨罗丈夫的既得服务为由，拒绝向他发放其应得的配偶遗属抚恤金。

2009年，杰瑞最初请求拜耳公司以汤姆遗孀的身份向他提供福利，拜耳公司却以联邦《婚姻保护法》（DOMA）为由拒绝向他提供福利。杰瑞成为佩德森诉人事管理办公室案（Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management）的13名原告之一。该案于2010年提起，旨在挑战《婚姻保护法》，康涅狄格州联邦地区法院于2012年裁定原告胜诉。

2013年6月，美国最高法院在“温莎诉美国案”中裁定《捍卫婚姻法案》违宪，并确认佩德森胜诉。

《婚姻保护法》已被从法典中抹去，仿佛从未存在过一样，杰瑞再次要求获得配偶养老金。拜耳再次拒绝。“尽管《婚姻保护法》已被裁定违宪，但拜耳仍然拒绝向杰瑞提供养老金，即便其养老金计划已向所有在世配偶提供福利，即使联邦法律（雇员退休收入保障法）也规定，根据拜耳等计划，在世配偶也应获得养老金，”代表帕萨罗的同性恋者反歧视联盟 (GLAD) 临时执行董事加里·布塞克 (Gary Buseck) 表示。“拜耳对其对一位尽职尽责员工的鳏夫所负的法律和道德义务置若罔闻，这位鳏夫需要他丈夫应得的基本赡养。”

2008年11月26日，托马斯·巴克霍尔兹和杰瑞·帕萨罗在家中结婚，当时汤姆已身患淋巴瘤，病情严重。他们在一起已经13年了。婚后两个月，汤姆去世。去世前，他曾相信自己已得到保证，杰瑞将成为他养老金的受益人。但拜耳至今仍拒绝承认任何承诺。

2014 年 5 月 12 日，GLAD 代表杰瑞向康涅狄格州美国地方法院提起民事诉讼。投诉可在此处阅读在 GLAD 的网站上。

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Woman standing on a balcony — Rikki Bates

Gender transition-related medical care is necessary medical care for many transgender people, but getting that care paid for can be a huge barrier. Private and public insurers have traditionally simply excluded gender transition-related procedures from their coverage based on the unfounded assumption that treatment is experimental, elective, or cosmetic. Transgender people are disproportionately represented in prison, and they, too, have limited and, most often, no access to care.

GLAD is working across a range of contexts to guarantee access to medically necessary care for all transgender people, whatever their situation in life. Each victory lays the groundwork for the next, because each time we establish the reality and legitimacy of transgender people’s medical needs, we make it easier for others to make the case.

GLAD worked with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) to encourage DOC’s creation of an ombudsperson position to individually evaluate and develop medical treatment plans for transgender people in the prison system. We are regularly in contact with several inmates who are challenging denials of health care. We expect to regularly meet with the ombudsperson to continue to advocate for those inmates who are in touch with us.
GLAD is in the initial stages of bringing a case on behalf of a Massachusetts state employee denied surgical coverage by the Group Insurance Commission plan.
GLAD represents Rikki Bates (pictured above) in a challenge to MassHealth’s denial of coverage for gender transition-related surgery; GLAD had previously helped her successfully challenge MassHealth’s denial of her coverage for hormone therapy.
GLAD worked with the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services and other advocates to revise state policy to include gender transition-related care for youth in juvenile justice settings. GLAD is working in Rhode Island to ensure this same result across both child welfare and juvenile justice settings.
In Connecticut, GLAD advocated on behalf of a transgender state employee who was initially denied coverage for his gender transition-related surgery because of a categorical exclusion in the state insurance plan. GLAD worked with his union representative to secure a resolution from the union eliminating the insurance exclusion for all state employees.
By working with state insurance commissions, GLAD has expanded access to private insurance coverage in Vermont and Connecticut, where state insurance commissions issued bulletins to insurers advising that they could not exclude coverage for gender transition-related care. In Vermont, this bulletin was followed by a revision of the state-sponsored insurance plans to remove exclusions in those plans.
GLAD is working with insurance commissions throughout the rest of the New England states to secure bulletins clarifying the impermissibility of exclusionary plans.
GLAD represents Michelle Kosilek in the appeal by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections of the federal district court’s order that she receive gender-transition surgery.
GLAD worked with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the ACLU to successfully challenge Medicare’s exclusion of gender transition-related surgeries. A final ruling issued May 30 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Department Appeals Board removes the threshold barrier to coverage for care for transgender people under Medicare.
GLAD represented Vanessa Adams, an incarcerated transgender woman, in a challenge to the federal Bureau of Prison’s (BOP) exclusion of medical treatment for persons who come into BOP without a treatment plan. That case lead to a settlement in which BOP agreed to provide our client with treatment and also revised federal policy to eliminate its “freeze frame” policy.
高兴的 successfully challenged the IRS’s denial of a taxpayer’s medical deduction for gender transition related care 在 O’Donnabhain v. IRS. Now all transgender taxpayers can deduct their medically necessary transition-related expenses.
在 Beger v. DMA, GLAD secured a Superior Court order ruling that the Division of Medical Assistance had to cover breast reconstruction surgery for a transgender woman, needed as the result of defective breast implants.

帕萨罗诉拜耳

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更新，2014 年 9 月： 通过与我们的法定代表人积极沟通和慎重商议，我们共同达成了一项协议，该协议的条款保密，并最终获得了我们申请的配偶遗属抚恤金。我们很高兴杰瑞将获得这些抚恤金，我们也同样对拜耳处理和解决这一法律问题的方式感到满意。

病历

In re Jane Doe

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In 2014, GLAD submitted an 法庭之友 简短的 along with the ACLU in a case in which the state sought to transfer a transgender girl from a youth juvenile justice facility to a men’s adult prison.

The brief set forth two arguments. First, that a transgender girl should be in a girl’s facility. Second, that transferring her to a an adult prison would undermine the rehabilitative goals the state must strive to meet.

The brief includes research showing that as a transgender youth, she is particularly vulnerable to abuse and violence and therefore should not be transferred.

康斯丁诉布鲁克代尔老年生活

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2014年，同性恋者反歧视联盟（GLAD）代表凯瑞·康斯丁（Kerry Considine）起诉其雇主布鲁克戴尔老年生活公司（Brookdale Senior Living），原因是布鲁克戴尔拒绝了她将妻子蕾妮（Renee）纳入雇主提供的医疗保险计划的权利。凯瑞指控布鲁克戴尔公司基于性别歧视她，违反了1964年联邦《民权法案》第七章、《平等工资法案》和《康涅狄格州公平就业实践法案》。

克里向联邦平等就业机会委员会（EEOC）提起诉讼，不久之后，布鲁克戴尔公司改变了政策，决定将医疗保险福利扩大到同性和异性配偶。随后，EEOC初步裁定“有合理理由相信被告（布鲁克戴尔公司）基于性别歧视了原告（克里公司）。” 随后，克里收到了EEOC发来的一封起诉权信函。

我们向康涅狄格州联邦地区法院提起诉讼后，发现Kerry作为其受雇条件签署了一份强制仲裁协议。Brookdale律师事务所请求强制我们进行仲裁，美国地区法院法官同意了我们的诉求，裁定仲裁员必须确定Kerry的索赔是否需要仲裁。

在仲裁中，Kerry辩称，她提出的确认救济和禁令救济请求不应通过仲裁，而应根据仲裁协议中的明确排除条款，提交联邦法院审理。Brookdale则声称，该协议充其量也只是含糊其辞，因此必须解释为有利于仲裁。在实体问题上，Brookdale还辩称，Kerry目前没有权利提出索赔，因为她现在正在享受先前被拒绝的利益。仲裁员现已裁定，Kerry的索赔请求需要仲裁，并且Kerry的实体问题索赔请求应在仲裁中被驳回，因为时机尚未成熟（这实际上意味着，由于她正在享受利益，因此她与Brookdale之间不存在当前存在的争议）。

我们不认为仲裁员的裁决在任何一点上是正确的，但仲裁员的裁决是最终裁决，不得上诉。