Seaton offers correction on DC Human Rights Law coverage
(from Readers Forum, The Washington Blade)January 22, 1999
I stand corrected by Craig Howell, president of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., who wrote to gently inform me (contrary to a quote of my remarks in the Washington Blade on Jan. 1) that the District of Columbia’s anti-discrimination law most emphatically does protect transgendered residents from discrimination not only in employment, but in other areas such as housing, education, and public accommodation.
Mr. Howell informed me, "This has been true since Title 34 — the immediate predecessor of the current D.C. Human Rights Law of 1977 — was passed in 1973. One of the protected categories enumerated in both laws was and is ‘personal appearance’ — a term that was specifically intended from the start to include protections for transgendered people. Some of the early struggles of our own organization (founded in 1971) were with gay bars that tried to keep out drag queens; the explicit language of the District law was vital in helping us to overturn those exclusionary policies. More recently, of course, there has been the Tyra Hunter case and all of its ramifications. In all of our often-excruciating dealings with the District government over the last several years in connection with this case, the fact that the D.C. Human Rights Law protects transgendered people has never been called into question."
I am deeply committed to freedom of diversity in gender expression, and I apologize for any confusion that I may have caused. I also thank Craig Howell and the Washington Blade for giving me the opportunity to publicly correct my misstatements.
Liz Seaton, Executive Director
Free State Justice Campaign
Takoma Park, Md.