See it here: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/110607.html

 

This guidance accompanied the letter: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/groupsguide.doc

 

 

House Bill No. 6599 includes the following language of particular interest to students and teachers:

 

"The public schools shall be open to all children five years of age and over … and each such child shall have, and shall be so advised by the appropriate school authorities, an equal opportunity to participate in the activities, programs and courses of study offered in such public schools, at such time as the child becomes eligible to participate in such activities, programs and courses of study, without discrimination on account of race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin or sexual orientation ..." and

 

"It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section for any person to subject, or cause to be subjected, any other person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities, secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of this state or of the United States, on account of religion, national origin, alienage, color, race, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, blindness or physical disability." and

 

"It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section … [f]or an employer … to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment any individual or to discriminate against such individual in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the individual's race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, mental retardation, learning disability or physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness"  and

 

"It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section … [f]or an employer … or for any labor organization, by itself or its agent, to harass any employee, person seeking employment or member on the basis of sex or gender identity or expression. "Sexual harassment" shall, for the purposes of this section, be defined as any unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors or any conduct of a sexual nature when (A) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, (B) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (C) such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

 

See the law here: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/ACT/PA/2011PA-00055-R00HB-06599-PA.htm

 

 

Can a transgender person change his or her name on a birth certificate?  Do laws specifically protect transgender students from discrimination?  If a spouse undergoes sex reassignment surgery, is the couple still legally married?

 

A new ACLU-WA booklet, The Rights of Transgender People in Washington State, addresses these and many other practical legal issues encountered by transgender individuals. The publication is available online here: http://www.aclu-wa.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Transgender%20guide.pdf. (The answer to all the above questions, by the way, is Yes.)

 

 

The language of the law -- Senate Bill 632 -- includes:

 

"No local government shall by ordinance, resolution, or any other means impose on or make applicable to any person an antidiscrimination practice, standard, definition, or provision that shall deviate from, modify, supplement, add to, change, or vary in any manner from [that which is prohibited by the state]."

 

See the law here: http://www.thegayestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/SB0632.pdf