Congress to Examine Transgender Issues Tomorrow

Congress will receive testimony tomorrow from a former Army ranger who says the Library of Congress turned her down for a job after learning of her gender transition.

Diane Schroer, a former Airborne ranger, will testify tomorrow in the House Education and Labor Committee when it examines transgender discrimination in the workplace.

Schroer says she accepted a job as a terrorism research analyst for the Library of Congress, but when she told her would-be employers that she was in the process of a male-to-female gender transition, the offer was rescinded. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is representing Schroer in a discrimination lawsuit against the Library of Congress.

The ACLU is calling the hearing Congress’s first on transgender issues, though hearings on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act last year dealt with transgender discrimination.

The committee decided to hold the hearing earlier this year expecting that it would assist one of its subcommittees in drafting legislation to address transgender discrimination, the ACLU told The Hill.

National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter will also testify at tomorrow’s hearing.