Harvard LGBTQ Policy Journal on Trans Identification
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/05/harvard_lgbtq_policy_journal_on_trans_identificati.php5/17/11
Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
I applaud Ms. Tobin's article. It's very well written -- concise, chock-full of data, and the conclusions flow naturally from the data. I published a law review article on this subject in 2001, The Gender Caste System: Identity, Privacy and Heteronormativity, back when data on trans people was as rare as hen's teeth. (Now that I've passed the half-century marker, I find myself reminiscing more and more about the old days.) I argued that the right to privacy in U.S. constitutional law creates a right to determine one's gender identity in government documents despite governmental regulations to the contrary, and published a follow-up article last year. Ms. Tobin's article takes a different tack.
Ms. Tobin notes that identification documents are among the most serious barriers to employment, housing, essential services, and even personal safety. She suggests that the paradigm that requires proof of surgery to change gender on personal documents is outmoded and dangerous.
