Transgender Law Center

Transgender Law Center
Founded 2002, San Francisco, California, United States
Focus transgender law
Area served
 United States
Method Campaigning, Advocacy, Lobbying, Research
Website www.TransgenderLawCenter.org

The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a San Francisco-based civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. They are California's first "fully staffed, state-wide transgender legal organization" and were initially a fiscally sponsored project of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.[1] The stated mission of TLC is to connect transgender people and their families to technically sound and culturally competent legal services, increase acceptance and enforcement of laws and policies that support California's transgender communities, and work to change laws and systems that fail to incorporate the needs and experiences of transgender people.

TLC utilizes direct legal services, public policy advocacy, and educational opportunities to advance the rights and safety of diverse transgender communities.[2]

Since launching in 2002, TLC has held over 250 transgender law workshops providing legal information to more than 3,250 community members, attorneys, social service providers, and business owners, as well as collaborated on public policy initiatives designed to improve safety in schools and prisons and safe access to public restrooms for transgender people in San Francisco. TLC successfully helped to revise San Francisco's "Regulations to Prohibit Gender Identity Discrimination” in December 2003, making them more inclusive of people who do not identify as strictly female or male, and pass cutting-edge legislation in the City of Oakland banning gender identity discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodation, and city services.

Transgender economic health

TLC released Good Jobs NOW! provides sorely needed data on the economic reality experienced by transgender people and their families. Transgender Law Center surveyed 194 self-identified transgender people living, working, or looking for work in San Francisco. The outcomes are:

Nearly 60% of Good Jobs NOW! respondents earn under $15,300 annually and only 8% earn over $45,900. 40% do not have a bank account of any kind. Only 25% are working full-time, 16% are working part-time, and nearly 9% have no source of income. Over 57% percent report experiencing employment discrimination, but only a little over 12% have filed an administrative or civil complaint as a result.

Just over 42% of respondents live with family or roommates and pay rent (with nearly 7% in Section 8 Housing), but not even 5% own their own residence. 10% self-identify as homeless and another 31% are living in unstable situations. Nearly 27% report experiencing housing discrimination. In terms of job readiness, 50% would like career and job counseling in order to explore their options. Around 53% percent would like to undergo further education or training in order to enter a new career.

Currently, at least 9% do not have a high school diploma or GED. 88% of respondents, though, have completed high school: 30% stopped there, 23% have attended some college, over 32% have a college degree of some sort (including 10% of people who have post-graduate degrees), and less than 3% have a vocational certification.[3]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nclrights.org/explore-the-issues/transgender-law/transgender-law/ accessed April 21, 2014
  2. ↑ http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Clerk/City_Council/2013/10Oct/Documents/2013-10-01_Item_08_Proclamation_in_Honor_of_Transgender_Law.aspx accessed April 21, 2014
  3. ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/20120713032648/http://transgenderlawcenter.org/pdf/Good%20Jobs%20NOW%20report.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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