Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Formation2003
HeadquartersNew York City, United States
Websitetldef.org

The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) is an American civil rights organization that focuses on transgender (LGBT) equality through impact litigation and public policy work.[1]

History

TLDEF was founded in 2003 by Michael Silverman to advocate for transgender rights including health care and restroom access.[2][3]

In January 2024, TLDEF announced that they will be merging with the National Center for Transgender Equality to form a new organization, Advocates for Trans Equality. The merger is planned to happen by the summer of 2024.[4]

Executive Directors

Years Name
  2003–2016 Michael Silverman[2]
  2016–2018 Jillian Weiss[5]
  2018–present  Andrea Marra[6]

Programs

TLDEF's name change project pairs private attorneys with transgender clients and has helped about 1,500 transgender people change their names.[7]

Notable cases brought by the organization include In re Mathis, the successful 2013 petition of first-grader Coy Mathis to the Colorado Civil Rights Division for the right to use the restroom appropriate to her gender,[8] and Schawe-Lane v. Amazon, in which the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found evidence of harassment and discrimination against a husband and wife couple at the Amazon distribution center in Hebron, Kentucky, currently pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.[9] The organization recently won rulings from the U.S. Equal Employment opportunity against Walmart in two cases: Robison v. Walmart,[10] and Bost v. Walmart (also in litigation in North Carolina federal court).[11] As a result, the Human Rights Campaign suspended Walmart's rating in its Corporate Equality Index.[12]

References

  1. ^ Lee, Steve (5 April 2016). "Michael Silverman to step down as TLDEF's executive director". LGBT Weekly. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b Ferrendi, Brittany (July 14, 2016). "Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund Names New Executive Director". South Florida Gay News.
  3. ^ "The Bay Area Reporter Online | Online Extra: Gays Across America: LGBTs build houses across region". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  4. ^ Yurcaba, Jo (January 17, 2024). "Two of the country's largest transgender rights organizations will merge". NBC News. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  5. ^ Ennis, Dawn (July 12, 2016). "From the courtroom to the boardroom: trans attorney leads rights group". LGBTQ Nation.
  6. ^ Schindler, Paul (21 November 2018). "Refusing to Accept Erasure". Gay City News. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  7. ^ Sontag, Deborah (12 Dec 2015). "'A Whole New Being': How Kricket Nimmons Seized the Transgender Moment". NY Times. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  8. ^ Ed Payne (24 June 2013). "Transgender first-grader wins the right to use girls' restroom". CNN. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  9. ^ "Kentucky man, transgender wife sue Amazon for workplace bias". ABC News. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  10. ^ "Walmart subsidiary discriminated against transgender worker, EEOC finds". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  11. ^ "Transgender Woman Sues Wal-Mart Over Alleged Bias In North Carolina". Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  12. ^ "Walmart Suspended In Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Rankings". Retrieved 2018-10-01.