Pride at Work Statement on DOJ Rescinding Protections for Transgender Working People

For Immediate Release

October 5, 2017

Contact: Jerame Davis – jdavis@prideatwork.org

Pride at Work Statement on DOJ Rescinding Protections for Transgender Working People

Washington – Yesterday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo to all Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys stating Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibitions do not protect transgender working people, counter to court precedent and previous DOJ policy. This change could have broad implications for pending and future cases in federal court. Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, reacted:

“There isn’t much the Trump Administration won’t lie about at this point. Jeff Sessions says in his memo that this is about “law, not policy” but the courts clearly disagree. Multiple federal district and appeals courts have concluded that Title VII does indeed protect transgender working people from discrimination.

“Jeff Sessions cannot unilaterally change or reinterpret the law. As a former Senator, he should know this. Congress makes our laws and the courts interpret – not the DOJ. Mr. Sessions would do well to read the constitution and remember which branch of the government he works in now.

“It’s shameful and unconscionable for an Attorney General to reverse course in protecting some of our most vulnerable citizens. Transgender people face extraordinary discrimination and harassment every day. The DOJ exists to protect Americans rights – justice is right there in the name, after all.”

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Pride At Work organizes mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBTQ Community for social and economic justice. We seek full equality for LGBTQ Workers in our workplaces and unions and we organize in the spirit of the union movement’s historic motto, “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” Learn more at www.prideatwork.org