Transgender law goes into effect

New Jersey has joined a growing number of states with laws that ban discrimination against transgender people.

The law, which sailed through the Legislature in December and takes effect today, has received little attention in a state gaining a reputation for being welcoming to lesbian, gay and transgender people. This year, New Jersey began allowing same-sex couples to unite in civil unions.

Advocates hope the new law leads to more acceptance of transgender people nationwide. New Jersey is the ninth state to enforce such a law.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center of Transgender Equality in Washington, said she expected more states to follow, including a handful in 2007 and 2008. Pennsylvania does not have such a law.

The New Jersey law makes it illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant because of gender status, and companies cannot refuse to hire people because they are transsexual, cross-dressers, asexual, of ambiguous gender, or simply not traditionally feminine or masculine. The law also bans discrimination in credit, business contracts, and public accommodations such as stores or restaurants.

Violators could be subject to up to 90 days in jail or fines up to $500.

Minnesota adopted the first such state law in 1993. Iowa, Vermont, Colorado and Oregon will have such laws take effect by Jan 1, raising the total to 13.

In New Jersey, advocates expect the law to raise public awareness of people who are born one gender but live as the opposite gender. The legal protections have been in place since a 2001 state appeals court ruled it was unlawful to discriminate against a transsexual doctor.

Barbra Casbar,of Edison, a transsexual woman who fought for the change, called the law "the start of a cultural change."

Labor-law posters at workplaces notifying workers of their rights will include the transgender protection.

Advocates say many employers, landlords and even transgender people did not know about the decision, known as Enriquez v. West Jersey Health Systems, or the protections it offers.

Despite the legal protections, transgender people say discrimination happens too frequently.

Coy Gordon, who was born male but has lived as a female since high school nearly 30 years ago, said she believed she had been rejected for work because she is transgender.

To employers, "I'm still a freak," said Gordon, 43, an unemployed counselor who lives in Jersey City.

Unable to get jobs, she said, transgender women often have little choice but to turn to prostitution.

In December, New Jersey lawmakers voted to add gender identity and expression to the long list of areas covered by the state's law against discrimination, which has been expanded several times since it was first adopted in 1945.

While it hardly received any attention, supporters of gay and transgender rights said it was as much a priority for them as the state's law allowing civil unions, which took effect in February.

The transgender law passed overwhelmingly in both chambers.

"I have never had an easier time lobbying than for this bill," said Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, an advocacy group.

Jillian Todd Weiss, an assistant professor of law and society at Ramapo College in Mahwah, who is transsexual, said the law might make people treat transgendered people better, but won't necessarily change attitudes or beliefs.

"It's very difficult to legislate away prejudice," she said.