In a thoughtful, well-reasoned opinion, a federal district judge handed transgender individuals a significant victory against employment discrimination. The case was Schroer v. Billington, and the court was the federal district court for the District of Columbia.

THE CASE AGAINST THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

The facts of the case are these: Diane Schroer applied for a position as a terrorism specialist with the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress. The job, which requires a security clearance, entails providing expert policy analysis to congressional committees, as well as members of Congress and their staffs.

No one disputes that Schroer possessed excellent qualifications for the job, which included an impressive set of relevant academic credentials and twenty-five years of service in the military, including time in combat as part of a Special Forces unit. The dispute arose, instead, because of Schroer's male-to-female transgender status. (A transgender person is someone whose gender identity diverges from his or her anatomical sex at birth.)

At the time she interviewed for the position, she had been diagnosed with gender identity disorder and had been working with a social worker to develop a plan to transition to a completely female identity. When she had interviewed at CRS, however, she used what was then her legal name, David Schroer, and presented herself to the interviewer with a male appearance. After the interview, on which she scored higher than any other applicant, CRS offered her the position.

After receiving the offer, Schroer called Charlotte Preece, the staff member with whom she had interviewed, and asked her to lunch. At lunch, Diane disclosed her transgender status and explained that, by the time she reported for work, she would have had feminizing facial surgery and would have assumed a permanent, full-time female appearance, to be followed by sexual-reassignment surgery at a later date.

After an initial response of “Why in the world would you want to do that?,” Preece told Schroer, “Well, you've given me a lot to think about. I'll be in touch.” When Preece did get back in touch, it was to rescind the job offer. She explained over the phone: “Well, after a long and sleepless night, based on our conversation yesterday, I've determined that you are not a good fit, not what we want.” The job was then offered to and accepted by the next-highest-scoring candidate on the list.