Court Says Gender Dysphoria Covered by Americans with Disabilities Act
(CNN) — A federal appeals court said Tuesday that the Americans with Disabilities Act covers individuals with "gender dysphoria," handing a win to trans people in a case concerning a former inmate who alleged discrimination at a Virginia prison.In a majority opinion issued by a three-judge panel with the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the court wrote, "In light of the 'basic promise of equality ...
that animates the ADA,' we see no legitimate reason why Congress would intend to exclude from the ADA's protections transgender people who suffer from gender dysphoria."Gender dysphoria describes an uncomfortable conflict between a person's assigned gender and the gender with which the person identifies, according to the American Psychiatric Association."We have little trouble concluding that a law excluding from ADA protection both 'gender identity disorders' and gender dysphoria would discriminate against transgender people as a class, implicating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," the ruling read, referring to a constitutional clause that has been used in court to protect minority groups from discrimination.The treatment of trans inmates has long been a focus of advocates for trans rights, with stories of abuse fueling calls for reforms and more targeted anti-discrimination laws.
