Wednesday, April 19, 2006

News: Hawaii gender identity bill

A bill has been introduced in the Hawaii legislature that would prohibit discriminatory practices in public accommodations on the basis of gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. The link indicates that it was introduced at the last minute in an attempt to overcome an expected veto.

The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission had ruled in 2002 that Hawaii's sex discrimination law covered transgender people, but an appeals court had reversed that decision. The Hawaii Supreme Court threw the whole case out on technical grounds, and sent the case back to the Executive Director for investigation. Despite diligent search, I could not find the results of the new investigation.