A Philadelphia trans woman was told more-or-less just that, being asked to provide a surgeon’s report and, most shockingly, photographs of her genitals before being allowed to use the women’s toilets. The Philiadelphia Gay News reports:
Irene Kudziela, branch manager of Manpower’s Pottsville office, allegedly told Blatt that a letter from her surgeon documenting her gender-reassignment surgery – along with a photograph of her genital area – would be necessary before she could return to Sapa.
Blatt, 28, said she found the request “repugnant” and “disgusting,” and declined to comply. She viewed the request as a form of sexual harassment, she added.
“I was shocked and disgusted,” Blatt said. “It felt like I was being reduced to a mere sex object. I was trying to work there in a dignified and private manner, but my dignity and privacy were constantly being violated.”
In addition to sexual harrassment, Blatt is bringing her case under disability discrimination laws: it would seem that Philly doesn’t provide protection based on gender reassignment. In the UK there is already specific protection against this sort of treatment under statute, and section 7 of the Equality Act, when enacted, will provide that:
A person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing
physiological or other attributes of sex.
Pingback: Posts about sexual harassment (best posts combined for review) as of August 16, 2009 | Discrimination Law News
Thanks for drawing this to our attention – I’ve blogged about it on our Employment Intelligence blog. Obviously, even if Parliament goes to a full term, it’s going to be a bit of a tight squeeze getting Royal Assent for the Equality Bill before dissolution of Parliament, so its future isn’t certain – but it’s worth pointing out that there’s a potentially important difference between the definition of gender reassignment in the Bill and that under the current Act. Also the Bill covers indirect discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment, which the Act doesn’t.
Pingback: Blog Roundup: Say What? You can’t be serious. Three must read posts. | Discrimination Law News