Transphobia As An Apparent Government Function

Sometimes, one can't help but wonder if one of the functions of state and local government is transphobia. Below are two stories on agents of government allegedly behaving badly.

Story 1.) You may remember Amber Yust. She's the California transgender woman who filed for a new driver's license, only to allegedly have the DMV employee who assisted her send a letter to her home.

The letter was framed in antigay terms. The letter tied her name change to "[t]he homosexual act," and went on to say:

Supporting those who commit this act and encouraging and justifying those who have the orientation also lead one to hell.

The letter quotes and highlights scriptures from Leviticus, 1 Corinthians, Romans, and Genesis.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel has added to the story in their article DMV employee put on leave after allegedly sending hate mail to transgender woman. In the article, learned the name of the DMV employee that allegedly wrote to Amber Yust: His name is Thomas Demartini. From the article:

[Below the fold: More about the California DMV Employee (Thomas Demartini) and the DMV's action so far, and the DC Trans Coalition press release, entitled DCTC Condemns Alleged Anti-Trans Assault by MPD Officer].

Yust received a letter at her home from Demartini that was dated Oct. 22, the day after he processed the changes to her DMV record.

The one-page document lists biblical references that imply homosexuality and gender transitions are mortal sins. In the letter, Demartini apparently begs Yust not to complete her gender transition.

"Jesus clearly prohibits gender change operations," Demartini wrote. "If an operation like this is the reason for changing one's name, then one has made a very evil decision."

The ABC affiliate in Los Angeles is reporting DMV employee in transgender case suspended -- apparently Thomas Demartini has been suspended with pay.

The San Francisco Chronicle, in their piece Transgender woman says DMV clerk warned of hell, reports the following (emphasis added):

The same day, Yust said, a DVD arrived from a fundamentalist church warning of eternal damnation for anyone "possessed by demons" of homosexuality. The DMV employee's letter had referred her to the church's website as a source of "critical information for your salvation."

What's more, the DMV had kept the employee on in 2009 even after he refused to process another transgender woman's name-change application, Yust said in a damage claim filed with the state, the precursor to a lawsuit.

I had "the demon of transvestism" cast out of me in 1979. I know all about how Evangelicals and Pentecostals -- basically, Christian fundamentalists -- feel about transgender people. Too bad Thomas Demartini never closely read Matthew 19:12; Isaiah 56:3-5; Acts 8:25-40; Judges 4; and 1 Samuel 16:7b, and learned that his God respected gender variance, and that while folk like him look at people from the outside, his God looks at people's hearts.

Anyway, UPI is reporting in their piece DMV worker faces lawsuit:

In a damage claim filed with the state, preliminary step in the filing of a lawsuit, Yust alleged the DMV retained Demartini on its payroll following an incident in 2009 in which he refused to process a name-change application for another transgender woman.

California's DMV needs to take antitransgender behavior very seriously -- I know I'm planning on telling the DMV that via their General Drivers License and Registration Information number, which is 1-800-777-0133, that I want to know if transphobia is something they take seriously. Hey, I found the number on the DMV Phone Directory webpage -- I plan on asking for the management official who is in charge of their antidiscrimination policy.

2.) The DC Trans Coalition has a new press release out, entitled

Still, it does seem strange that alleged antitransgender behavior by agents of the government occurs still in parts of the country where gender identity or expression is a protected class. And, that antitransgender behavior by agents of the government isn't treated by the managers of these agents of the government as seriously as other kinds of bad behavior by agents of the government would be.

I ask the question of myself and others -- what can do we do to affect changes in the way government deals with antitransgender discrimination? What can we do to make sure enforcement of antidiscrimination laws and policies based on gender identity or expression are approached with the same level of seriousness that we would expect antidiscrimination laws and policies based on race, gender, and disability would be treated?

I'm know I'm starting with a phone call to the California DMV about how Amber Yust was allegedly treated. If I lived in the District of Colombia, I'd be calling the Metropolitan Police Department, the city Mayor's office, and LGBT organizations based in DC -- specifically to ask them to take action regarding the alleged behavior against Chloe Moore.

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Related:

*California DMV Employee Tells Trans Woman In Letter She's Made A "Very Evil Decision"

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