Articles tagged with: ACLU of Alaska
Alaska DMV refuses to put correct gender on drivers license; ACLU sues
The ACLU and the ACLU of Alaska have brought suit against the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles over DMV’s refusal to put the correct gender marker on a transgender woman’s driver’s license without proof of a surgical sex change. The brief in the case, K.L. v. State of Alaska, can be read at at the ACLU or ACLU of Alaska websites.
Here is the ACLU of Alaska’s press release:
DMV Refusal to Correct Transgender Driver’s Licenses Unconstitutional
ACLU Lawsuit Challenges Requirement that Transgender Persons Undergo Surgery for Proper Gender on License
ANCHORAGE, AK, July 18, 2011 — The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alaska filed a brief today seeking to allow transgender individuals to correct the gender marker on their driver’s licenses without undergoing major surgery. The state’s surgery requirement places an undue burden on transgender individuals and presents a gross violation of an individual’s right to privacy.
“It is unfair and unnecessary to require that transgender people undergo prohibitively expensive and drastic surgery in order to have accurate identity documents,” said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Alaska. “No one should have to disclose sensitive personal information or be forced to make major medical decisions in order to get an accurate driver’s license.”
The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of a transgender woman, K.L., whose United States passport and work documents all identify her as a female. After initially securing a change to the gender on her driver’s license, she was told that her new license would be revoked unless she submitted proof of having surgery. The American Psychiatric Association and medical experts agree that surgery is medically necessary for some with gender identity disorder (GID), but not for everyone. Treatment for GID is individualized, and some can be effectively treated without it, making it unnecessary for the state to confirm whether or not an individual has had surgery before correcting a license. Additionally, such surgery is extremely expensive and potentially dangerous. The State Department no longer requires transgender people to have surgery before it will correct the gender marker on passports and a growing number of states have stopped requiring surgery for changing the gender marker on a driver’s license.
“Having a driver’s license that doesn’t match my appearance and identity would place me at risk of discrimination and physical harm,” said K.L., who has lived as a woman for two years.
The state supreme court has found that the Alaska Constitution’s privacy clause protects individuals’ right to self-expression and to be free from the disclosure of sensitive personal information and government intrusions on their decisions about medical care.
“The surgery requirement not only violates Alaska’s laws, it demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about what it means to be transgender,” said John Knight, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project. “The state cannot deny transgender people an accurate driver’s license based on an arbitrary and unconstitutional policy that clashes with accepted medical standards.”
The brief can be found on the ACLU websites at www.aclu.org and www.akclu.org.
Attorneys include Knight of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, Thomas Stenson of the ACLU of Alaska Foundation, and Stephanie Boehl of Perkins Coie.
Motion filed in Schmidt v. Alaska
A lawsuit by three same-sex couples against Alaska’s biased property tax rules progressed to the next step on Wednesday.
The national ACLU and the ACLU of Alaska filed a motion for summary judgment in Schmidt v. Alaska, a lawsuit challenging the state’s tax-assessment rules. The tax rules discriminate against same-sex couples by denying them equal access to a property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled veterans.
Those who qualify and who live with same-sex partners are only permitted, at most, half of the exemption available to opposite-sex married couples because they are treated as roommates rather than as families.
Each of the three couples are denied full access to a $150,000 property tax exemption available to opposite-sex married couples. The couples are asking that the Alaska Superior Court declare this discriminatory law to be unconstitutional.
“Denying gay seniors and disabled veterans the tax protection for their family homes afforded to heterosexuals serves no purpose other than to treat same-sex couples like second-class citizens,” said Tom Stenson, Legal Director of the ACLU of Alaska. “People should not have to pay a higher tax simply for being lesbian or gay.”
The three couples challenging the unfair gay tax are described HERE, in Bent’s first post on the Schmidt v. Alaska lawsuit that was filed last year.
Second-class citizens: Gay Alaskans report legal and social discrimination
The ACLU of Alaska released the preliminary results of their 2008 LGBT Community Interest Survey today:
Discrimination a Persistent Problem for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Alaskans, says American Civil Liberties Union
ANCHORAGE, AK, September 24, 2008 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska released a report today revealing that many of the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) residents still live in fear of discrimination. The report shares the initial findings of an on-going survey of LGBT Alaskans.
A majority of respondents agree that discrimination is the largest problem they have personally faced as LGBT people living in Alaska. Some report having been harassed on the job, even fired, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. But unlike other minorities who have been historically discriminated against, there are no significant state or local laws to shield them from such prejudice.
“The survey shows that LGBT people want the same thing as most other Americans. They want to be able to provide for themselves and their families without worrying about being refused or fired from a job because of who they share their lives with,” said Tiffany McClain, the ACLU of Alaska’s LGBT Public Policy Coordinator. “But in the state of Alaska they have no legal recourse if they suspect unfair treatment from an employer, landlord, or creditor.”
Responses to the survey have been collected via e-mail, online, and in person and include participants from Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks. So far, 26% of respondents report having experienced discrimination or harassment in the workplace and an additional 18% have faced these obstacles outside of work. When the lack of legal recognition of their partnerships and families is counted as a form of discrimination, the proportion of LGBT people who have suffered the consequences of discrimination is even higher.
“We know that Americans are fair and favor equal treatment and ending discrimination,” said Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska. “As Alaskans hear about the families of their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends, neighbors, colleagues and relatives, they will want to see an end to workplace discrimination, and will support the right to visit a sick loved one in the hospital, or to protect the needs of children in LGBT families.” The initial survey findings can be found at http://www.akclu.org/AKCLU_LGBTresults.pdf
We would like to invite anyone who doesn’t feel as if their voices are being adequately represented to complete a survey and encourage their friends to complete one as well.
This work is supported by generous grants from the Pride Foundation and the Tide Foundation’s State Equality Fund, a philanthropic partnership that includes the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr Fund, the Gill Foundation, and other anonymous donors.
— Tiffany McClain, LGBT Public Policy Coordinator
— Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director
