FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 18, 2001

Rhode Island Adopts Transgender-Inclusive Non-Discrimination Law

On July 17, 2001 Rhode Island became the second state in the nation – following Minnesota in 1993 – to adopt a non-discrimination law that clearly prohibits discrimination against transgender people in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations.  The law amends all of the state’s non-discrimination laws to ensure that transgender people who face discrimination may seek redress in the form of injunctive relief and damages.

Kate Monteiro, the president of the Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, the statewide political organization which was a driving force behind the law’s passage, said, “The passage of this long overdue law is a crucial step in the struggle to make clear that discrimination based on gender difference and stereotypes is wrong.  We’re proud of the Rhode Island legislature’s continuing commitment to assure all Rhode Islanders are afforded basic human rights and treated with dignity and respect.”

The statute (which passed the legislature as “2001 - House 5920 Substitute A”) adds the phrase “gender identity or expression” to Rhode Island’s non-discrimination laws.  It defines “gender identity or expression” as including “a person’s actual or perceived gender, as well as a person’s gender identity, gender-related self image, gender-related appearance, or gender-related expression; whether or not that gender identity, gender-related self image, gender-related appearance, or gender-related expression is different from that traditionally associated with the person’s sex at birth.”

The law protects a wide range of people, broadly referred to as transgender, who face discrimination in many different contexts.  The law will protect, among others, individuals who are transsexual and those who cross-dress, as well as anyone who does not fit widely-held stereotypes of what it means to look like a man or a woman.  For example, it will ensure that employers do not take adverse action against an employee simply for being transgender.  Similarly, it will ensure that an otherwise exemplary employee is not disciplined or terminated if the employer learns that the employee intends to undergo sex-reassignment surgery.  So too will it protect the housing applicant who gets denied an apartment because the landlord prefers not to rent to a man who appears feminine or a woman who appears masculine.

“This is a tremendously important law that will ensure the protection of transgender people’s basic rights.  Far too often, we have seen courts exclude transgender people from protections under existing laws for unprincipled reasons.  No more will this be the case in Rhode Island,” remarked Jennifer Levi, staff attorney at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, who was instrumental in helping to draft the language of the bill.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression.

The Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, founded in 1983, advocates for civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Rhode Islanders through political, legal and educational activities devoted to increasing awareness and respect for the human rights of all Rhode Islanders.