Local testifies at first federal hearing on transgender right
by Ethan Jacobs
staff reporter
Wednesday Jul 2, 2008

http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=76891

The House Committee on Education and Labor held the first congressional hearing on transgender rights June 26 as part of an effort by LGBT advocates and congressional allies to build support within Congress for a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) bill. Boston's Diego Sanchez, director of public relations and external affairs for the AIDS Action Committee, testified at the hearing before the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions along with other supporters and opponents of transgender rights.

Sanchez told the commission about the support he received from his parents at a young age when he told them he felt more like a boy than a girl; he also told them about the years he spent in the closet about his gender identity as he worked his way up the corporate ladder and established himself in his career. Sanchez told Bay Windows that while he hoped his own testimony made an impact on lawmakers, he thinks two of his fellow witnesses, retired Army colonel Diane Schroer and former NASA engineer Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti, may have made an even greater impression. Schroer told the subcommittee about being turned down for a position at the Library of Congress after disclosing her transgender status, and Taraboletti told them about being fired from NASA because she is trans.