Instead of ENDA: A Course Correction for Title VII

Abstract:     
In September 2008, the D.C. federal court issued a landmark decision holding that discrimination against a transgender person was sex discrimination under Title VII. This decision throws into sharp relief the ongoing debates among supporters of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act about whether the compromise on including protection for gender identity claims. Consideration of ENDA in some form will likely be early on the agenda of the next Congress, especially under a Democratic administration likely to support the bill. This essay proposes an alternative to ENDA that would embrace the theoretical connections between sex, gender, and sexual orientation, with important practical consequences for the relief available to plaintiffs.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: ENDA, Title VII, gender, sexual orientation, discrimination, civil rights, transgendered rights

Accepted Paper Series