Transgender Issues

There are many issues that affect the transgender part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. In 2001, the Task Force established the Transgender Civil Rights Project to work for transgender equality. The Task Force strives to make all of its work transgender-inclusive and also believes that working on transgender-specific issues is critical to meeting our mission of achieving freedom, justice and equality for all LGBT people.

Staff from the Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality following the press conference after the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was introduced in the U.S. House on June 24, 2009.

Why it Matters:

Transgender people are and have always been an integral part of our community, and the struggle to establish civil rights protections for transgender people cannot be separated from the struggle to win freedom and equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

What We’re Doing:

The Task Force leads national efforts to broaden the definition of our communities to include transgender people in the public policy debates on civil rights, hate crimes and health.

• We work in coalition with other groups to pass transgender-inclusive non-discrimination and hate crimes legislation.
• Our Transgender Civil Rights Project [0] is a leading resource for providing legislative, policy and strategy assistance.
• In September 2008, the Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality launched a national survey documenting experiences of discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people. Learn more [1].
• The Task Force has published three transgender-specific publications: Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People: The Nine Keys to Making LGBT Organizations Fully Transgender-Inclusive [2], Transgender Equality: A Handbook for Activists and Policymakers [2] and Transitioning Our Shelters: A Guide to Making Homeless Shelters Safe for Transgender People [2].
• We also have a number of fact sheets specific to transgender nondiscrimination protections available for your use. View our issue maps [3] and fact sheets [4].

What You Can Do:

• Support [8] the work of the Task Force.
• Get involved! Check out our Action Alerts [9].