Hannah Leith said he was stopped by a security guard when he tried to go into the women’s toilets at the Paisley Centre, Scotland.
“I visited the ladies as I left and I was approached by a security guard and informed a complaint had been made that I was using the ladies’ toilets.
“He proceeded to inform me that I was only to use either the men’s or disabled toilets unless I was post-operative.
“I informed him that I had the legal right to use appropriate toilets, and he responded by saying if I used them, I would be banned from the centre.”
“It was not made clear whether a staff member or a member of the public had made this complaint… I have lived full-time as a woman since last August and this disgusts me.”
He subsequently attempted to enter the ladies’ toilets but was stopped again by another guard, and attempted to reason with the first security guard he spoke to.
“This was useless as he said words to the effect that I was causing problems for everyone and that the majority was more important than just me.
“When I said it had never caused a problem before, and no-one has either noticed or cared I was trans, he replied that they noticed – implying that I do not pass as a woman, which I don’t believe is correct.”
A transgender woman in Hong Kong won a court appeal allowing her to marry her boyfriend and forcing the government to rewrite the city’s marriage laws. The woman in her 30s, known in the Court of Final Appeal as “W” under anonymity rules, successfully overturned earlier verdicts that said marriage is only allowed between couples who were of the opposite sex at birth.
W, who underwent sex realignment surgery more than five years ago at government expense, argued that her post-operative sex was recognised by the law and that previous rulings were a violation of her constitutional rights. The city’s Registrar of Marriages had argued that she could not wed her boyfriend because her birth certificate – which cannot be altered under Hong Kong law – said she was male.
“It is contrary to principle to focus merely on biological features fixed at the time of birth,” the court said in a written judgement by the panel of five judges. It added that existing laws “impair the very essence of W’s right to marry”.”
A man who changed her sex has sued the Kenya National Examination Council for a new examination certificates reflecting her new sex.
In a landmark case filed at the Milimani court, Audrey Mbugua Ithibu who was born Andrew Mbugua, says the fact that her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education bears a different sexand name, she has been unable to get a job which was a violation of her rights.
Audrey wrote her KCSE exams as a man and was issued with her certificate in 2001. She was thereafter diagnosed with gender identity disorder. Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria (discontent with the sex they were assigned at birth and/or the gender roles associated with that sex). It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less extreme manifestations of gender dysphoria.
In her lawsuit, Audrey accuses the council of refusing to effect the change despite giving her hope that it will do same. She says the council’s refusal was tantamount to failing its statutory duty and was unfair and unjustified. The council’s refusal had also caused her to suffer distress and depression due to the daily stigma of being unable to secure employment.
The Red Lion Area School District denied the request of a transgender high school senior to have his chosen name read at graduation. In a letter to the ACLU dated May 3, 2013 the district’s solicitor writes that the district will allow Issak Wolfe to wear the boy’s cap and gown. But, solicitor Benjamin Pratt wrote, the district will read students’ legal names. For Wolfe, that means his name will be read as Sierra Stambaugh.
A Saskatoon man who identifies as a woman says a bridal shop in the city refused to let him try on dresses as he planned his wedding.
Rohit Singh says he was looking at outfits in Jenny’s Bridal Boutique but when he asked to try one on, he was refused.
Singh said he plans to file a formal complaint about his treatment with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
The shop owner thought Singh was a man and felt other people in the store were uncomfortable with Singh trying on dresses.
“She said, sorry we don’t allow men to wear dresses here,” Singh recalled. “I said I’m not a man, I’m transgender.”
Singh says he has started the process for a sex change.
When contacted Thursday by CBC News, the bridal shop owner, who declined to provide her surname, said she stands by her decision.
“To me it doesn’t matter,” the owner said. “He looked like a man. There was quite a few brides in the store. If you see a man trying on dresses, you’re going to feel uncomfortable.”
Rohit is a name typically given to males.
ESPER FRENCH, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant.
Civil Action No. 4:12-cv-12835
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN, SOUTHERN DIVISION
March 12, 2013, Decided
OPINION
[*1]
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION TO
DENY PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [12] AND GRANT DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [14]
Plaintiff Esper French appeals Defendant Commissioner of Social Security’s (“Commissioner”) denial of her applications for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. ( See Dkt. 1, Compl.) Before the Court for a report and recommendation (Dkt. 3) are the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment (Dkts. 12, 14). For the reasons set forth below, this Court finds that substantial evidence supports the Commissioner’s decision. The Court therefore RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 12) be DENIED , that Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 14) be GRANTED , and that, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security be AFFIRMED .
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff was 52 years old on the date she alleges she became disabled. ::FOOTNOTE::1 (Tr. 154.) Plaintiff graduated from high school and completed some college work. (Tr. 81.) She previously worked as a computer-aided drafter (CAD), a general laborer, and as a care giver. (81-85.) She alleges that she cannot work due to her depression, [*2] gender dysphoria and deafness. (Tr. 75-76.) Read more…
