Transgender Law Center

Infobox Non-profit
Non-profit_name = Transgender Law Center
Non-profit_
founded_date = 2002, San Francisco, California, United States
area_served = United States
focus = transgender law
method = Campaigning, Advocacy, Lobbying, Research
homepage = [http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/ www.TransgenderLawCenter.org] The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a San Francisco-based civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. They are California's first "fully staffed, state-wide transgender legal organization" and were initially a fiscally sponsored project of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The stated mission of TLC is to connect transgender people and their families to technically sound and culturally competent legal services, increase acceptance and enforcement of laws and policies that support California's transgender communities, and work to change laws and systems that fail to incorporate the needs and experiences of transgender people.

TLC utilizes direct legal services, public policy advocacy, and educational opportunities to advance the rights and safety of diverse transgender communities.

Since launching in 2002, TLC has held over 250 transgender law workshops providing legal information to more than 3,250 community members, attorneys, social service providers, and business owners, as well as collaborated on public policy initiatives designed to improve safety in schools and prisons and safe access to public restrooms for transgender people in San Francisco. TLC successfully helped to revise San Francisco's "Regulations to Prohibit Gender Identity Discrimination” in December of 2003, making them more inclusive of people who do not identify as strictly female or male, and pass cutting-edge legislation in the City of Oakland banning gender identity discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodation, and city services. TLC has served over 2,500 clients through their Community Legal Services Program.

Transgender Economic Health

TLC released "Good Jobs NOW!" provides sorely needed data on the economic reality experienced by transgender people and their families. Transgender Law Center surveyed 194 self-identified transgender people living, working, or looking for work in San Francisco. The outcomes are:

Nearly 60% of "Good Jobs NOW!" respondents earn under $15,300 annually and only 8% earn over $45,900. 40% do not have a bank account of any kind. Only 25% are working full-time, 16% are working part-time, and nearly 9% have no source of income. Over 57% percent report experiencing employment discrimination, but only a little over 12% have filed an administrative or civil complaint as a result.

Just over 42% of respondents live with family or roommates and pay rent (with nearly 7% in Section 8 Housing), but not even 5% own their own residence. 10% self-identify as homeless and another 31% are living in unstable situations. Nearly 27% report experiencing housing discrimination. In terms of job readiness, 50% would like career and job counseling in order to explore their options. Around 53% percent would like to undergo further education or training in order to enter a new career.

Currently, at least 9% do not have a high school diploma or GED. 88% of respondents, though, have completed high school: 30% stopped there, 23% have attended some college, over 32% have a college degree of some sort (including 10% of people who have post-graduate degrees), and less than 3% have a vocational certification.

References

* [http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?id=19207 Trans Activist Awarded for Leadership: TLC Executive Director Masen Davis to be honored at Los Angeles Pride Celebration with Berman/Schaffer Award] , GayWired.com, 5 June 2008
* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-21-san-francisco-ids_N.htm S.F. approves ID cards that exclude gender] , USA TODAY, 11/21/07
* [http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2074 New TLC leaders aim to widen agency's reach] , Bay Area Reporter, 08/09/07
* [http://cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2006/07/18/n/HeadlineNews/KAMALA-HARRIS-CONFERE/resources_bcn_html Kamala Harris to Hold 'Gay Panic' Conference] , CBS 5, Bay City News Wire, 07/18/06
* [http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=977 TG job, health efforts get funding] , Bay Area Reporter, 07/13/06
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DF113DF937A35750C0A9639C8B63 A Quest for a Restroom That's Neither Men's Room Nor Women's Room] , Patricia Leigh Brown, New York Times, 03/04/05
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6959159/the_murder_of_a_boy_named_gwen The Murder of a Boy Named Gwen: She was seventeen and sexy and wanted to party. But something seemed off about Gwen Arajuondash and when the guys found out her secret, things turned ugly fast.] By Bob Moser, Rolling Stone Magazine, 02/10/05
* [http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/06/local/me-immig6 Couple Sue Agency Over Marriage Rule] , Ann Simmons, Los Angeles Times, 12/06/04
* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CC&p_theme=cc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=allfields(Unsolved%20case%20haunts%2010%20years%20later)%20AND%20date(1/1/2004%20to%201/1/2005)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1/1/2004%20to%201/1/2005)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22Unsolved%20case%20haunts%2010%20years%20later%22)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no Unsolved case haunts 10 years later] , Nathaniel Hoffman, Contra Costa Times, 12/02/04
* [http://www.kpfa.org/archives/archives.php?id=14 Critical Resistance Radio Program on Transgender People and Prison] , Hard Knock Radio, KPFA, 11/26/04
* [http://www.gay.com/news/election/article.html?2004/08/12/7 Olympics open without visible transgender participation] , By Eric Johnston, PlanetOut, 08/12/04
* [http://www.thecalifornian.com/news/stories/20040721/localnews/887404.html 'I've always felt like a woman.' Transgender claims club has discriminated against her] , The Salinas Californian, 07/21/04
* [http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/9006615p-9901740c.html Fresno cross-dresser stabbed, killed. Police arrest fleeing naked man, review whether slaying was a possible hate crime.] , The Fresno Bee
* [http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/07/070104araujo.htm In Death Gwen Gets Her Name] , 365Gay.com Newscenter, San Francisco Bureau, 07/01/04
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/23/MNGVR7AI771.DTL Mistrial in transgender case. Deadlock over first-degree murder chargesndash 3 to face retrial in slaying of Newark teen] , San Francisco Chronicle, 06/23/04
* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040601-0012-ca-transgenderkilling.html Case of slain transgender teen could go to a jury this week] , Associated Press, 06/01/04
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/26/BAG246RHQQ19.DTL Posthumous request for a name change. Slain transgender teen's mom wants 'Gwen' to be official] , San Francisco Chronicle, 05/26/04
* [http://www.echoinggreen.org/?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=233 Perspectives from the Transgender Law Center] , Echoing Green Foundation, 2004
* [http://sfweekly.com/2002-06-12/news/legal-precedent/ Legal Precedent:A transgender Stanford grad and his colleague are set to open the first-ever law center for transgender issues] , SF Weekly, 06/12/02
* [http://www.curvemag.com/Detailed/346.html Beyond the Women's Room] , Curve Magazine, May 2003
* [http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=14229 What's she doing in the men's jail?: Marched around half-naked. Raped. Kept in isolation. The life of a transgender prisoner in the Sacramento County Jail is basically hell.] , Sacramento News & Review, 2/13/03.
* [http://www.horizonsfoundation.org/news/newsletters/spring2003/lgbtlaw.php Steel Fellows Blaze New Trails in LGBT Law] , On The Horizon, Spring 2003
* [http://www.donnarose.com/DiversityInc_100902.htm What's Top Legal Problem for Transgendered People? Employment Discrimination] , DiversityInc.com, 2003
* [http://www.balif.org/news3.html#out100 Christopher Daley and Dylan Vade Honored as OUT 100] , BALIF
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/12/BA147553.DTL S.F. jailer allegedly fired in sex case. Transgender person suing for assault] , San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12/02
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/05/BA76630.DTL Transgender study finds bias/But S.F. still found to provide more protections than any U.S. city] , San Francisco Chronicle, 11/05/02
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/08/09/BA126993.DTL Transgender man sues S.F., police, saying he was beaten, taunted] , San Francisco Chronicle, 09/09/02
* [http://www.sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/08/142146.php LA and the Bay: Transgenders Sue Police, Beauty School] , Frontiers, 09/09/02