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The '''Transgender Law Center''' ('''TLC''') is the largest American [[transgender]]-led {{IfExistsLink|civil rights|trans rights|[[wikipedia:civil rights|civil rights]]}} organization in the United States. They were originally California's first "fully staffed, state-wide transgender legal organization" and were initially a fiscally sponsored project of the {{IfExistsLink|National Center for Lesbian Rights|National Center for Lesbian Rights|[[wikipedia:National Center for Lesbian Rights|National Center for Lesbian Rights]]}}.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=18 July 2013|title=Transgender Law: Overview|url=http://www.nclrights.org/explore-the-issues/transgender-law/transgender-law/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215184000/http://www.nclrights.org/our-work/transgender-law/transgender-law/|archive-date=15 December 2018|accessdate=22 May 2018|website=Nclrights.org}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Clerk/City_Council/2013/10Oct/Documents/2013-10-01_Item_08_Proclamation_in_Honor_of_Transgender_Law.aspx |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-07-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107062048/http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Clerk/City_Council/2013/10Oct/Documents/2013-10-01_Item_08_Proclamation_in_Honor_of_Transgender_Law.aspx |archivedate=2014-11-07 }}</ref>

TLC utilizes direct legal services, public policy advocacy, and educational opportunities to advance the rights and safety of diverse transgender communities.<ref>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</ref>

Since launching in 2002,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Engardio|first1=Joel P.|title=Legal Precedent: A transgender Stanford grad and his colleague are set to open the first-ever law center for transgender issues|url=http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/legal-precedent/Content?oid=2145186|website=[[wikipedia:SF Weekly|SF Weekly]]|accessdate=May 27, 2016|date=June 12, 2002}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web|title=Compliance Guidelines to Prohibit Gender Identity Discrimination|url=http://sf-hrc.org/compliance-guidelines-prohibit-gender-identity-discrimination|website=Human Rights Commission|publisher=City and County of San Francisco|accessdate=May 27, 2016|date=December 10, 2003}}</ref> making them more inclusive of people who do not identify as strictly female or male, and to pass legislation in the City of Oakland banning gender identity discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodation, and city services.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Laird|first1=Cynthia|title=Oakland OKs gender identity ordinance|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/12084907/oakland-oks-gender-identity-ordinance|accessdate=May 27, 2016|publisher=[[wikipedia:Bay Area Reporter|Bay Area Reporter]]|date=December 18, 2003}}</ref>

==Legal work==

In 2015, the Transgender Law Center joined a lawsuit filed against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that resulted in a settlement that established a precedent of the state providing gender-affirming medical care.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Stahl |first1=Aviva |title=Transgender Prisoners: What an Inmate's Surgery Means for Trans Rights |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/transgender-prisoners-what-an-inmates-surgery-means-for-trans-rights-196781/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=9 November 2017 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC. |access-date=11 June 2021}}</ref>

In 2016, the Transgender Law Center and co-counsel filed a suit on behalf of a transgender high schooler who was prohibited from using the boys' bathroom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District |url=https://transgenderlawcenter.org/legal/youth/whitaker |website=Transgender Law Center |access-date=11 June 2021}}</ref> In 2017 the {{IfExistsLink|Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals|United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|[[wikipedia:United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals]]}} unanimously ruled in favor of the student, finding that the school's policy violated {{IfExistsLink|Title IX|Title IX|[[wikipedia:Title IX|Title IX]]}} and the {{IfExistsLink|Equal Protection Clause|Equal Protection Clause|[[wikipedia:Equal Protection Clause|Equal Protection Clause]]}} of the {{IfExistsLink|14th Amendment|Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|[[wikipedia:Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]]}}.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Emma |title=Appeals court sides with transgender student in Wis. school bathroom case |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/appeals-court-sides-with-transgender-student-in-wis-school-bathroom-case/2017/05/30/3f5f6e98-4572-11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_story.html |access-date=11 June 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=30 May 2017}}</ref>

==Transgender economic health==
The survey ''Good Jobs NOW!'', conducted jointly by the Transgender Law Center and the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2006, provided data on the economic reality experienced by transgender people and their families.<ref>{{cite web|title=Good Jobs NOW!|url=http://transgenderlawcenter.org/issues/employment/good-jobs-now|website=Transgender Law Center|accessdate=May 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Szymanski|first1=Zak|title=TG job, health efforts get funding|url=http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=977|website=Bay Area Reporter|accessdate=May 27, 2016|date=July 7, 2006}}</ref> The team surveyed 194 self-identified transgender people living, working, or looking for work in San Francisco. Survey findings included:

* Nearly 60% of respondents earned under $15,300 annually
* 40% did not have a bank account
* Only 25% were working full-time
* 10% were homeless

A statewide survey, "The State of Transgender California Report," was conducted in 2008. Findings included that respondents were more than twice as likely to live under the poverty line as the general population.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hemmelgarn|first1=Seth|title=Report: Even with protections, transgenders in California|url=http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=4306|website=Bay Area Reporter|accessdate=May 27, 2016|date=October 29, 2009}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100712160638/http://www.lsnc.net/equity/2009/08/18/economic-realities-in-the-transgender-community/ Economic realities in the transgender community], The Race Equity Project, August 18, 2009
* [http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=22936 "California Court of Appeals Affirms Right of Transgender Individual Living Out-of-State to Change California Birth Certificates"], ''San Francisco Sentinel'', April 19, 2009
* [http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/04/15/All_Calif__Natives_Can_Change_Gender_on_Birth_Certificates/ "All Calif. Natives Can Change Sex on Birth Certificates"], ''The Advocate'', April 15, 2009
* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-21-san-francisco-ids_N.htm "S.F. approves ID cards that exclude gender"], ''USA Today'', November 21, 2007
* [http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2074 "New TLC leaders aim to widen agency's reach"], ''Bay Area Reporter'', August 9, 2007
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DF113DF937A35750C0A9639C8B63 "A Quest for a Restroom That's Neither Men's Room Nor Women's Room"], Patricia Leigh Brown, ''New York Times'', March 4, 2005
* [http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/06/local/me-immig6 "Couple Sue Agency Over Marriage Rule"], Ann Simmons, ''Los Angeles Times'', December 6, 2004
* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CC&p_theme=cc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=allfields(Unsolved%20case%20haunts%2010%20years%20later)%20AND%20date(1/1/2004%20to%201/1/2005)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1/1/2004%20to%201/1/2005)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22Unsolved%20case%20haunts%2010%20years%20later%22)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no "Unsolved case haunts 10 years later"], Nathaniel Hoffman, ''Contra Costa Times'', December 2, 2004
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/23/MNGVR7AI771.DTL "Mistrial in transgender case. Deadlock over first-degree murder charges{{spaced ndash}}3 to face retrial in slaying of Newark teen"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 23, 2004
* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040601-0012-ca-transgenderkilling.html "Case of slain transgender teen could go to a jury this week"], Associated Press, June 1, 2004
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/26/BAG246RHQQ19.DTL "Posthumous request for a name change. Slain transgender teen's mom wants 'Gwen' to be official"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', May 26, 2004
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717095919/http://www.echoinggreen.org/?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=233 Perspectives from the Transgender Law Center], Echoing Green Foundation, 2004
* [http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=14229 "What's she doing in the men's jail?: Marched around half-naked. Raped. Kept in isolation. The life of a transgender prisoner in the Sacramento County Jail is basically hell."], ''Sacramento News & Review'', February 13, 2003.
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/12/BA147553.DTL "S.F. jailer allegedly fired in sex case. Transgender person suing for assault"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 12, 2002
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/05/BA76630.DTL "Transgender study finds bias/But S.F. still found to provide more protections than any U.S. city"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 5, 2002
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/08/09/BA126993.DTL "Transgender man sues S.F., police, saying he was beaten, taunted"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 9, 2002
{{Wikipedia}}

[[Category:Transgender organizations]]
[[Category:Facts]]

Transgender Law Center - Revision history

imported>HelenDaMelon at 21:33, 10 August 2025