Starting Sunday,
New Jersey joined eight other U.S. states in making it
illegal for employers and landlords to discriminate against
transgender people.
The law, which
sailed through the legislature in December, has received
little attention in a state that is gaining a reputation for
being welcoming to lesbian, gay, and transgender
people. Earlier this year, New Jersey began allowing
same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.
Advocates hope
the new law will lead to more acceptance and awareness of
people who are born one gender but live as the opposite
gender. Mara Keisling, executive director of the
National Center of Transgender Equality in Washington,
said she expects more states to follow, including a
handful in 2007 and 2008.
''It's really
simply a reaction to there being more [transgender] people
who are out,'' Keisling said. ''As more people transition,
it becomes safer to transition.''
The law makes it
illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant because of his
or her gender status, and companies cannot refuse to hire
people because they are transsexual, cross-dressers,
asexual, of ambiguous gender, or simply not
traditionally feminine or masculine. The law also bans
discrimination in credit, business contracts, and public
accommodations such as stores or restaurants.
Labor law posters
at work places notifying workers of their rights will
include the transgender protection. Violators could be
subject to up to 90 days in jail or fines up to $500.
The first such
state law was adopted in Minnesota in 1993. Rhode Island,
New Mexico, California, Illinois, Maine, Hawaii, Washington,
and the District of Columbia have adopted similar
measures.
By January, laws
also will be in effect in Iowa, Vermont, Colorado, and
Oregon.
New Jersey gay
and transgender leaders said passage of the
transgender-rights bill was as much a priority for them as
the state's civil unions law, which took effect in
February.
''I have never
had an easier time lobbying than for this bill,'' said
Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, an
advocacy group that pushed for the law.
Despite the legal
protections, transgender people say discrimination
happens too frequently.
Coy Gordon, who
was born a man but has lived as a woman since high school
nearly 30 years ago, said she believes she has been rejected
for work because she is transgender.
''To them
[employers], I'm still a freak,'' said Gordon, 43, an
unemployed counselor.
Unable to get
jobs, she said, transgender women often have little choice
but to turn to prostitution.
Jillian Todd
Weiss, an assistant professor of law and society at Ramapo
College, who is also a transsexual, said the law might make
people treat transgender people better but that it
will not necessarily change attitudes or beliefs.
''It's very
difficult to legislate away prejudice,'' she said. (Geoff
Mulvihill, AP)
