THE FIGHT SOCAL'S LGBTQ MONTHLY MAGAZINE APRIL 2018

THEROSTOWREPORT
THE BRAINS
OF A
DANDELION
I see that Caitlyn
Jenner, the
Republican transwoman
who supported
Trump in 2016
and naively believed
that he would help
the LGBT community,
has changed
her tune. Back in
the day, Jenner said
she’d never vote for
Hillary Clinton, the
“liar,” and mused
that Trump would be
“good for women.”
Now, she’s calling Trump a
disaster, saying he has set the
transgender community back
20 years.
I was about to question in
print why any of us even gives
a damn about the opinion of
this mindless idiot. I mean
seriously, dear Readers. She’s
got the brains of a dandelion.
I know she’s a member of our
colorful and charming LGBT
community but still! Then I realized
that I was the one who
decided to begin my column
with her revelations. So sue
me, sue me, what can you do
me. I love you!
SUBSETS OF SEX
Speaking of transwomen,
we won a fantastic victory at
the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Sixth Circuit the other day.
On March 7, a three-judge
panel ruled unanimously that a
funeral parlor owner, who fired
a director for planning to start
her transition, had discriminated
on the basis of sex in
violation of Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
I know we’ve talked about
this before, but it’s critical. If
more and more federal courts
continue to agree that gay
and trans bias are subsets
of sex discrimination, we
will prevail in our civil rights
goals much faster than we
might otherwise. It could take
forever to convince Congress
to add sexual orientation and
gender identity to Title VII
protections against workplace
bias and other civil rights
statutes. But sex is already
protected. Sex discrimination
is already against the law in
the workplace, in housing, in
public education. Ergo, if LGBT
discrimination is seen as falling
under the general category of
sex discrimination, our community
would suddenly have
the law on our side.
Last year, the full court of
the Seventh Circuit ruled that
gays can sue under Title VII’s
ban on sex discrimination, and
in early March, the full Second
Circuit ruled the same in a
>> BY ANN ROSTOW