LGBTQ History November P2

Event: Schroer v. Billington (U.S. District Court, Washington, D.C. 2008).

Overview: Transgender people have had to fight for equal rights. One transgender woman who has done this is Diane Schroer. In the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. the judge ruled that the Library of Congress had discriminated against a transgender woman, regarding a job offer based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The judge awarded $500,000 in damages to the claimant.

Action: Identify ways that you or others may be discriminated against because of your gender or sexual orientation and what you can do about it.

Quick Lesson Steps:

  1. Questions to Ask: What are some laws that protect people’s rights? 
  2. Show / Do:
    a) Tell the story: May use these online slides to tell the story. David Schroer served the military, including serving 16 years as a company and battalion commander and directing a classified interagency organization after 911, and retired as a colonel in 2004. Upon accepting a position at the Library of Congress, they started to transition and then changed her first name to Diane. The Library rescinded the job offer. Schroer brought her case to court. The director of the library at the time, James Billington, argued the case should be dropped and claimed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, did not apply to transgender people. The judge rejected this reasoning. In 2008, the judge decided in favor of Schroer, which was the first time that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was applied to employment discrimination of a transgender person. 

    b) Watch the video from CNN (2 minutes). This interview took place in 2008 before the court made their decision. Since then, more laws in support of equality for transgender people have been passed. 

    c) The court decision: The court provided three important decisions:

    • Discriminating in employment against someone who is transitioning from one gender to another is sex discrimination under federal law;
    • Rejected the library’s argument that transgender people are not protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 / Title VII’s ban on discrimination due to sex stereotyping, and
    • The court made clear that refusing to hire a transgender person because of the assumed bias of others is no less discriminatory than an employer’s refusal to hire a women or racial minorities because of the assumed bias of others. The decision expanded employment rights for all transgender people within government service and impacted employment rights for all employers.
  • Reflection Questions: What do you think about the court decision? What made Schroer go to court to fight for equality? When is the right time to go to court?  

Background:

Schroer was born in Chicago, attended the Northern Illinois University as part of the ROTC program, and entered the army as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation. She completed ranger and airborne training and then became a member of the Special Forces, serving 16 years as a company and battalion commander, and completed 450 parachute jumps while in the army. Following the 911 attacks, Schroer directed a 120-person classified interagency organization as part of the Defense Department’s war on terror. After 25 years in the Army, Schroer retired as a colonel in 2004. Later in the year she applied and was offered a position with the Library of Congress. Schroer accepted the position at the Library of Congress, but when she told her future supervisor that she was in the process of gender transition, they rescinded the job offer. During this same time, after years of struggling with her gender identity, she began to transition to female and changed her first name to Diane.

In 2005, Schroer filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Washington D.C. against the Library of Congress claiming job discrimination. At the time, James Billington was the library’s director. In 2006, Billington asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, does not cover discrimination against a transgender person based on gender identity. The judge denied this request. In 2008, the judge decided in favor of Schroer, which was the first time that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was applied to employment discrimination of a transgender person.

The court provided three important decisions: 1) discriminating in employment against someone who is transitioning from one gender to another is sex discrimination under federal law; 2) rejected the library’s argument that transgender people are not protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 / Title VII’s ban on discrimination due to sex stereotyping, and 3) the court made clear that refusing to hire a transgender person because of the assumed bias of others is no less discriminatory than an employer’s refusal to hire a women or racial minorities because of the assumed bias of others. The decision expanded employment rights for all transgender people within government service and impacted employment rights for all employers.

Ongoing discussions about employment and military service rights of transgender people continue today.

Resources:

Table of Contents

See more LGBTQ History Lessons here.