http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120429/NEWS06/304290030/springfield-city-council-human-rights-council-gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender-rights
Given a choice, Josh Castillo would prefer his life to be considered unremarkable.
“I’m a fairly average guy. I live in a middle-class neighborhood, I have a mortgage, a son … I run and go fishing,” said Castillo, a hospital social worker. “If I didn’t tell you I was transgendered, you wouldn’t know.”
Castillo, 40, was born female. As a woman Castillo served in the military, married, had a child and divorced. He transitioned to living as a man about five years ago, went through sex reassignment surgery and changed his name.
“I was fortunate because I did pass very easily” after starting hormone treatment, Castillo said. Even so, “there was a long period of time when I wouldn’t use a public bathroom at all … (out of fear) that someone’s gonna say, ‘You’re not supposed to be here.’”
Restrooms — and determining who uses which ones — have been a focal point of discussion as City Council considers adding protections for transgendered residents to the city’s non-discrimination ordinances.
The changes, endorsed by the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations, would make it illegal to deny someone a job, housing or public services based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
State and federal law don’t explicitly offer such protection, supporters say, although recent policy changes and legal interpretations at the federal level are heading in that direction.
An April 20 opinion from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for example, ruled that discrimination based on a person’s transgender status runs afoul of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex.
Supporters say more comprehensive protection is needed.
“I don’t want special treatment because I’m transgendered … but it’s not OK to fire me just for that,” Castillo said. “I’m not a second-class citizen.”