Honorifics (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss) and legal rights

[Renate]

I've seen this issue flirted with but not tackled head on.

If you are, say, a pre-op MTF transsexual dragging around a (US) passport with a female name and an "M" marker,
do you actually have a legal right to style yourself "Ms. Jane Doe"?

That is, would my employer who has made it abundantly clear that they regard me as male
have grounds for objection if I added "Ms." to my customer service style name tag?

I'm not really looking for opinions, more references to laws and court cases.

[Ms Bev]

Each state has it's own laws regarding gender protection, and each company has its own policy.  Any laws in place only protect you from not being hired or being fired based on gender, or gender identity.  Otherwise, they cannot be forced to see you as female, or call you by a female name or honorific.
The best solution is to work for a company with a good diversity policy in place.

Happy Christmas,

Bev

[KarenLyn]

I personally would go with Ms as I am that person with the passport that has a female name but sports an "M" in the sex marker. I have had problems with employers. I worked for a company that publishes religious software and they refused to recognize my legal name change. Not that it mattered because my job was suddenly outsourced to the Philipines and I was laid off.

Karen Lyn

[IsabelleStPierre]

Hello,

however, see Houston v. Trella, ___ F.Supp.2d ___ 2006 WL 2772748, D.N.J., September 25, 2006 (NO. CIVA 04-1393 JLL)
"Because Plaintiff is a transsexual and identifies herself as feminine, the Court will use the feminine pronoun when referencing Plaintiff."  if a federal or state court recognizes the correct pronoun, does it extend?

I'll have to see if I can get my divorce attorney to file a petition to refer to my in the feminine for my court proceedings...should be interesting to see what comes of this...

Peace and love,
Isabelle St-Pierre

[ErickaM]

The best places to start are with your HR rep & ask for company policy on Gender Identity and see where you stand there.  Once you have the HR support they should get with you supervisor and direct him to abide by the policy or suffer disciplinary actions by the company.   Normally the disciplinary action would be a reprimand in his personnel record & that would slow down any promotion that he may be up for in the near future.  That is normally enough for some people to snap to reality and follow company policy, that is provided that your company supports non- discrimination due to Gender Identity.

[ErickaM]

I'm sorry to hear that.