MEDIA RELEASE

Illinois Gender Advocates

www.genderadvocates.org

Contacts:

Stevie D. Conlon, Chair: 312 213-2311; Cyndi Richards, Vice Chair: tgcyndi@yahoo.com

October 3, 2007:

An open letter to the transgendered and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community regarding the Human Rights Campaign

As you are probably aware, there has recently been substantial public controversy regarding the inclusion of gender identity protection in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) bill (H.R. 2015) and the introduction of a revised version that excludes gender identity as a protected class. This controversy received notable media attention beginning on Thursday, September 27^th, 2007.

As reported in the LGBT press, 9 national LGBT groups immediately indicated their strong opposition to any proposed legislation that would separate or exclude gender identity related protections. Many other state and national LGBT organizations similarly voiced their opposition to such proposals and did so rapidly over the next several days. By Monday, October 1^st, the list had grown to over 90 organizations and as of October 3^rd, 2007, had continued to grow to over 150 organizations.

Illinois Gender Advocates met on Tuesday, October 2^nd and has now released its own statement against the proposals and has added its name to the United ENDA Coalition.

Prior to 2004, our predecessor organization, It’s Time Illinois, joined the strong protests against the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) proposed federal anti-discrimination legislation because it did not specifically provide protections relating to gender identity and in 2004 HRC revised its position.

Since then, due to a variety of steps taken by HRC, we believed that HRC had become committed to inclusive protections for all segments of the LGBT community. Unfortunately, HRC’s absence from the initial list of national LGBT groups opposed to this recent legislative development is extremely troubling and disappointing to us. It was not until Tuesday, October 1^st that HRC publicly responded. Although a recent public statement has been released by HRC as of this date, it regrettably includes elements that could be interpreted as less than fully supportive of gender identity protections.

Given the manner in which HRC has responded to these recent developments, we are concerned that the transgendered, along with a broader class of persons that identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight but may be perceived as gender variant, are not being fairly represented. This development naturally causes us to reexamine the sincerity of HRC’s general statements of inclusion and support for transpersons since 2004. At our core, we are involved in efforts ourselves and with other groups to make a difference for the transgendered and for others in matters that relate to gender identity. We would like to continue to work with all of the national, state and local groups that are involved in these efforts. It is our hope that HRC will take strong action to correct and address the concerns that regrettably appear obvious to us and others within the transgendered and broader LGBT communities.

Illinois Gender Advocates

October 3, 2007