A New Frontier—Challenges to Discrimination Based on Gender Dysphoria
The following articles trace the legislative histories of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”)[1] as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”)[2] and subsequent court cases decided under these statutes, with an eye toward helping plaintiffs, lawyers, courts, and activists chart future challenges to discrimination based on gender dysphoria. These authors suggest that the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973[3] are a new frontier for securing rights for transgender individuals in areas such as education, employment, prisoner rights, and public accommodations.
Ruth Colker, Homophobia, AIDS Hysteria, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 8 J. Gender Race and Just. 33 (2004). Available at: http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/sites/colker2/files/2012/12/Homophobia-AIDS-Hysteria.pdf [for educational use only].
Jennifer L. Levi, Clothes Don’t Make the Man (or Woman), But Gender Identity Might, 15 Colum. J. Gender & L., 90 (2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1972941.
Kevin Barry, Brian Farrell, Jennifer L. Levi, & Neelina Vanguri, A Bare Desire to Harm:Transgender People and the Equal Protection Clause, 57 B.C.L. Rev. 507 (2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2691846.
Kevin Barry & Jennifer L. Levi, Blatt v. Cabela's Retail, Inc. and a New Path for Transgender Rights, 127 Yale L. J. F. 373 (2017). Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3183409.
Christine Duffy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in the Workplace: A Practical Guide, Chapter 16. Available at Pro Bono Partnership: https://www.bna.com/uploadedFiles/BNA_V2/Legal/Products/Books/Employment_and_Labor_Law/CH16%20Americans%20with%20Disabilities%20(Duffy).pdf.