Thursday, August 10, 2006

American Bar Association urges adoption of gender identity laws

The American Bar Association's policy-making House of Delegates met on August 7th and 8th to debate an array of issues "critical to the profession and the nation." The ABA House voted to urge federal, state, local and territorial governments to enact legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in employment, housing and public accommodations.

With more than 410,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. The ABA House of Delegates is the association's policy-making body. The 549 delegates represent states and territories, ABA entities, state and local bar associations, affiliated organizations and other constituencies.

I think this vote particularly significant because the ABA imprimatur, including as it does all the lawyers who represent employers and businesses, indicates that gender identity protection is perceived as a perfectly reasonable business practice.