Are transgender rights next in fight for equality?

WAUSAU – The June Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage legal across the county was a major victory for LGBT activists nationwide. But even as activists celebrated, they also spoke about the ways their work isn't over yet. In Wisconsin, as in many other states, the next goal for many in the LGBT community is the creation of robust anti-discrimination laws.

Wisconsin's law to combat discrimination against gay people is one of the oldest in the country. Advocates now are aiming to put in place anti-discrimination laws that also protect transgender individuals.

Transgender people are those who identify with a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. Only Dane and Milwaukee counties have laws against discrimination by gender identity. This means that throughout most of the state, transgender individuals can be legally denied housing, employment and other services because of their gender expression.

A principal concern for the transgender community in non-discrimination is restroom access. Wisconsin law says that only people undergoing gender reassignment surgery can change their legal gender: a process that can cost up to $50,000. Jamie Shiner, a 62-year-old transgender woman in Green Bay told Daily Herald Media one battle LGBT activists are now fighting for is legislation to give trans people access to the restroom of their gender identity.

Shiner is currently the LGBT caucus chair for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and was the first openly transgender person to serve as a Wisconsin delegate at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. She has kept a personal "don't ask, don't tell" policy about being transgender, she said. Without restroom rights, transgender people are automatically outed, or can be arrested for using the restroom of their gender identity.

"I have trans men friends who are big, burly guys with beards, and they have no place being in a women's restroom," she said, "The government is telling us we need a painful, expensive surgery just to be treated like a normal person."

Under current law, only those who have had gender reassignment surgery are legally recognized as possessing a different gender identity. But not all transgender people want to have gender reassignment surgery, and most are not able to afford to. Lauree Cook-Daniels, Policy and Program director for FORGE, a transgender rights advocacy organization said that without non-discrimination laws, Trans people are denied health care under the assumption that they will want the procedure.

"People aren't really aware of how serious this is," Cook-Daniels said. "People can be dropped from insurance because their gender identity is called 'a liability'. People can even be dropped if their spouse is transgender."

However, insurance companies who take on transgender customers often will not assist for any kind of surgery, not just reassignment, for transgender people because of their freedom to discriminate, she said.

"We've known transgender people who get denied insurance for their broken leg," Cook-Daniel says, "And it's legal for insurance to say they won't cover your care because of your gender identity (in Wisconsin)."

Christine Smith, a board member of Rainbow Over Wisconsin, says it's important that the LGBT community makes sure it's not leaving transgender people behind. With non-discrimination laws and same-sex marriage ensuring civil rights for gay and bisexual residents, she fears people may overlook ongoing transgender issues.

Smith doesn't have much hope for passing legislation supporting transgender rights in the near future under the Gov. Scott Walker administration and conservative state Legislature. However, she says activists can still work towards getting transgender people the same level of visibility and acceptance that homosexual people have gotten over the past few years.

"As transgender allies, we need to step up our game," Smith said, "Transgender equality and safety is the next frontier for the LGBT movement, and we need to make sure we're fighting just as hard for non-discrimination laws as we did for marriage equality."

Robin Opsahl can be reached at ropsahl@wausau.gannett.com. Follow Robin on Twitter at @robinlopsahl.

Common terms

Transgender: Those who identify with a gender other than the one they were designated at birth. Sometimes shortened to trans.

Cisgender: When a person identifies with the gender they were given at birth. Sometimes shortened to cis.

Non-binary: When a person identifies with neither male nor female, usually prefers they/them pronouns. Sometimes called genderqueer or gender non-conforming.

Gender reassignment surgery: A surgery that alters a transgender person's current sexual characteristics to resemble that of their identified sex. This is usually accompanied by hormone use, facial reconstruction and breast enlargement or reduction.

Gender Dysphoria: A psychological condition of feeling one's emotional and psychological identity as male or female to be opposite to one's designated sex.

Transitioning: When a transgender person begins altering their physical sex to match their identity. This usually involves taking hormones, changing one's legal name, dressing differently and sometimes surgery. This process can take five or more years.

FTM: Female-to-Male, or a transgender man.

MTF: Male-to-Female, or a transgender woman.

DMAB: Designated Male at Birth. This term is usually used by transgender women, but applies to cisgender men and some non-binary people.

DFAB: Designated Female at Birth. This term is used by transgender men but applies to cisgender women and some non-binary people.

Drag queens: Men, often gay, who dress like women for the purpose of entertainment. Most have female names and prefer she/her pronouns while dressed femininely, but identify as men and live as men normally. They are different than transgender women, who identify and live as women full-time.

Cross-dressing: When a person chooses to dress using clothes usually worn by people of the opposite sex. People who call themselves cross-dressers usually aren't transgender, but just are more comfortable wearing clothes traditionally made for another gender.