Many trans-people rely upon homeless shelters for their survival and many of the shelters do not know the law. Here as in Boston a person may use the bathroom of their gender identity, but we still get arrested…
Connecticut’s anti-discrimination law (Public Act 11-55) also cover gender identity and expression in public accommodation but I still hear reports trans-women and trans-men being turned away or forced to live in their birth gender from the shelters here in Connecticut. Which is a clear violation of the law; however, most of the trans-people are too intimidated to file a complaint with the CHRO. What will it take for the shelters to obey the law, a law suit? Or worst, a death?
Transgender woman settles lawsuit with Boston over treatment during 2010 arrestHer arrest should have never happened. Boston has an inclusive anti-discrimination statute that covers public accommodation for trans-people. The homeless shelter has a policy that covers gender identity and expression but it wasn’t followed. The Globe goes on to write,
Officers’ actions under scrutiny
Boston.com
By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff
February 4, 2013
The city of Boston has agreed to pay a transgender woman $20,000 in exchange for dropping her suit against the officers who arrested her on disorderly conduct at a homeless shelter, in a case that highlights the department’s absence of written policies for dealing with transgender people.
[…]
After she was arrested for refusing to leave a woman’s bathroom at a homeless shelter…
The City of Boston has long had an ordinance that says people have the right to use restrooms, showers, and dressing rooms based on their gender identity, a rule that goes beyond state protections of transgender people.Not only does the city have a policy for trans-people but also the homeless shelter and neither one of them was followed, as a result a trans-woman was arrested and humiliated by the police for doing what she was legally entitled to do.
[…]
The Boston Public Health Commission’s policy stipulates that transgender women may use the women’s restroom and showers. Martin said staff members are instructed to follow the commission’s protocol.
Connecticut’s anti-discrimination law (Public Act 11-55) also cover gender identity and expression in public accommodation but I still hear reports trans-women and trans-men being turned away or forced to live in their birth gender from the shelters here in Connecticut. Which is a clear violation of the law; however, most of the trans-people are too intimidated to file a complaint with the CHRO. What will it take for the shelters to obey the law, a law suit? Or worst, a death?
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