Celebrating 15 Years
by Mara Keisling
Fifteen years ago today, the National Center for Transgender Equality opened for business for the first time. Through my work at NCTE, I’ve been privileged to be a first-hand witness to the progress of trans rights. I have been so fortunate to be a part of this community, this movement, this organization, and how far we have come.
When I started NCTE, less than four percent of the U.S. population lived in jurisdictions that protected trans people from discrimination. Today, that number is more than 50 percent — and we’ll keep working until it’s 100.
Also around that time, a Pennsylvania state senator told me that I should be pleased to meet with him, because five years earlier he wouldn’t have even let me in his office, and members of Congress we met with at the time would flinch when a trans person tried to shake their hand or change seats to avoid sitting next to one of us. Last November, only 14 years later, I had the opportunity to personally thank President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. That is progress.
There’s no better way to really understand how far we’ve come than to look back on 15 of NCTE’s accomplishments from the last 15 years.
1. NCTE opens its doors
On January 6, 2003, I started my first day at NCTE with two goals: to make sure that trans people had a seat at the table as policy discussions about LGBTQ people happened in Washington, and to ensure that any LGBTQ-specific legislation included trans people. I spent that first day on the phone, spreading the word that NCTE was up and running and getting involved in the advocacy work LGBTQ organizations around Washington were doing. I was usually the only trans person in every meeting.
Throughout 2003, I continued to work for NCTE on a volunteer basis as the only person on staff. Our six-person Founding Board was also instrumental in driving NCTE’s work over that first year. (By contrast, NCTE now has nearly 20 paid staff and nine board members.)
2. NCTE holds its first Congressional lobby day
In 2004, NCTE and our partner organizations joined forces to bring trans people to meet their members of Congress. Since then, NCTE has held progressively larger lobby days that are attended by trans people and our allies from around the nation.
3. NCTE leads the charge to get trans people included in federal nondiscrimination legislation
In late 2007, Congress pushed forward a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would protect people from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but not on the basis of gender identity. NCTE and a slew of allied organizations mobilized to ensure that trans people were included. While we continue to fight for clear federal job protections, this moment marked a turning point for the larger LGBTQ movement, making it clear that trans people must be included.
4. Congress holds its first hearing on trans issues
Along with our partners, NCTE helped organize the first congressional hearing on trans issues in 2008. For the first time ever, trans people had the opportunity to share experiences of workplace discrimination with members of the House Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
5. Congress passes the first federal law to explicitly protect trans people
After tireless advocacy by NCTE and our partner organizations, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in late 2009. By expanding federal hate crime laws to explicitly include crimes motivated by gender identity, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was the first federal law to explicitly protect trans people. Since its passage, this law has allowed us to ramp up our education efforts with law enforcement agencies around the country.
6. The State Department updates passport gender change policies
In the summer of 2010, after years of advocacy by NCTE, the U.S. State Department updated its policies on updating passport gender markers. This opened the doors for hundreds of thousands of trans people to update their passports and travel with ID that accurately reflected their identity, and was a milestone in the advocacy around identity documents that NCTE continues today.
7. “Injustice at Every Turn,” the report of the groundbreaking National Transgender Discrimination Survey, is published
In 2010, “Injustice at Every Turn,” the full report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, was released by NCTE and the National LGBTQ Task Force (then the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force).
It was the first comprehensive study that quantified trans people’s experiences in employment, health care, and other areas of life. Until the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey report was published, “Injustice at Every Turn” was the primary source for policymakers who wanted to take data about trans people into account when making decisions.
8. HUD secretary speaks at NCTE’s anniversary event, becoming the first cabinet secretary to address a trans audience
Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan became the first cabinet secretary to address a trans audience as he delivered a speech at NCTE’s eighth anniversary event in 2011. Secretary Donovan reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that trans people have equal access to public housing programs, and in subsequent years, his agency followed through.
9. Vice President Joe Biden calls the fight for trans equality the “civil rights issue of our time”
While leaving a campaign office in Sarasota soon before the 2012 presidential election, Vice President Joe Biden had a brief conversation with the mother of a trans woman about trans rights. During the exchange, Biden said that trans issues were “the civil rights issue of our time.” The comment received media coverage and further elevated the public conversation about trans issues.
10. The Violence Against Women Act is reauthorized with explicit trans protections
Following a lapse in 2011, Congress finally reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2013. Not only did it renew this law, it also added protections for LGBTQ people. The new version of the law became the second federal law to explicitly protect people on the basis of gender identity, as well as extending protections to undocumented immigrants and Native Americans.
11. President Obama signs executive orders banning anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination by federal agencies and contractors
Because of years of advocacy by a coalition of LGBTQ advocates including NCTE, in 2014, President Obama signed an executive order banning anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination in federal contracting. An additional order also barred anti-trans discrimination for federal employees — discrimination against federal employees on the basis of sexual orientation had already been banned by President Bill Clinton during his time in the White House.
12. President Obama speaks out against anti-trans persecution in his State of the Union address
During his 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama declared that Americans “condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.” This marked the first time a president had made explicit reference to lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in a State of the Union address.
13. Federal agencies clarify explicit protections for trans people in schools and health care settings
In 2016, multiple federal agencies took action to protect trans people. Most notably, the Departments of Education and Justice released guidance making clear to educational institutions that federal law protects trans students from discrimination, and the Department of Health and Human Services put out a regulation stating that insurers and health care providers also cannot discriminate against trans people. (This regulation is still in place, but is under threat by the Trump administration.)
14. NCTE publishes the largest ever survey of trans people
In late 2016, we published the full report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, the successor to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. With nearly 28,000 respondents, it is the largest survey of trans people to date, and contains a wealth of data on trans people’s life experiences. Throughout 2017, we have also published breakout reports about the populations of individual states, about trans communities of color, and about trans people who are or who have been in the military.
15. NCTE launches an affiliated political organization, building strength for the coming years
In the fall of 2017, we launched the National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund, an affiliated 501(c)(4) organization that gives us new tools to fight for trans equality. The Action Fund will allow us to grow our strength by supporting political candidates, increasing our lobbying efforts, and continuing to mobilize trans people and our loved ones in 2018 and beyond.
And the work continues. Just this past week, we learned that despite the Trump administration’s efforts, trans people can now join the military and serve authentically for the first time in history. Even that fight is not over yet, as several lawsuits make their way through the courts and the White House continues to oppose equality.
What will the next 15 years bring? Find out by following NCTE on Facebook, Twitter, and here on Medium, and by signing up for our mailing list. Throughout 2018, we’ll be continuing to look back at the past 15 years, as well as keeping you up to date on the latest developments in our advocacy.
Mara Keisling is the Executive Director of NCTE.
