The U.S. Senate confirmed two Obama nominees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Wednesday that advocates say will be critical in protecting LGBT Americans from workplace discrimination.
The Senate voted 53-43 to reappointment David Lopez as EEOC general counsel and 93-2 to confirm Charlotte Burrows as EEOC commissioner.
The EEOC is tasked with protecting workers against discrimination and has taken strides to protect transgender workers in recent years. In April 2012, the EEOC found in Macy v. Holder that “sex discrimination,” which is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, includes discrimination against transgender people. This past September the EEOC filed lawsuits in federal courts in Florida and Michigan against companies accused of discriminating against transgender employees.
“Charlotte Burrows and David Lopez have proven that they have the temperament, experience, and judgment to serve on behalf of America’s work force, and understand the need for LGBT Americans to be protected from discrimination in their workplaces,” said David Stacy, Government Affairs Director for the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement. “We congratulate both Charlotte Burrows and David Lopez on their confirmation by the U.S. Senate and look forward to working with them in ensuring all Americans are protected from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Although Burrows, a former aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy and associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice since 2009, was nearly unanimously confirmed, Lopez faced a tougher renomination process. During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions last month, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tore into Lopez for investigating businesses that have not faced complaints of discrimination. “How can you show up to work with a straight face? I don’t understand how you wouldn’t resign immediately, and say, ‘This is abhorrent,’” Paul said during the hearing.
Lopez was first confirmed by the Senate in Dec. 2010. Both nominees were endorsed by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national progressive organizations.
According to Tico Almeida, founder and president of Freedom to Work, the confirmations of Lopez and Burrows will prove critical to LGBT workers who face discrimination.
“The EEOC already protects transgender employees across America from discrimination, and someday soon the EEOC may protect gays and lesbians too,” Almeida said in a statement.
The morning of the Senate vote, Freedom to Work pressured six centrist Democratic senators — Mark Begich (Alaska), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kay Hagan (N.C.) — through a phone-banking operation to confirm Lopez. All six voted to confirm.
“LGBT Americans are better off now that David Lopez has been confirmed to a second term as top litigator for the EEOC,” Almeida continued. “David Lopez initiated historic litigation earlier this year on behalf of transgender employees who were unlawfully fired or treated horribly at work, and during his second term leading the EEOC’s litigation office, we are hopeful that this outstanding lawyer will begin to rack up significant legal victories on behalf of LGBT Americans.”
Sacramento, California, has been designated a "sanctuary city" for transgender individuals.
Last week, the Sacramento City Council approved a resolution ensuring that city resources -- including law enforcement resources -- are not used to aid in out-of-state prosecutions of people who come to California seeking out gender-affirming mental health care, hormone therapy, or surgery.
The resolution prohibits city funds from being used to cooperate with any individuals or out-of-state agencies who are investigating people for pursuing treatments that are legal in California.
A city council member for a U.S.-Mexico border town was overwhelmingly voted out of office in a recall election after she came out as transgender.
Calexico Council Member and former Mayor Raúl Ureña -- who uses all pronouns but prefers "she" -- was first elected to the city council in 2020, at age 23.
She was hailed in recent years as a progressive hero challenging the political status quo in the town of about 38,000, located in California, just across the border from Mexicali, Mexico.
In 2020, Ureña had succeeded former Council Member David Romero, who went to federal prison after being convicted in a bribery scandal.
Following her critically acclaimed performance as trans teen Jules Vaughn in Euphoria, Hunter Schafer says she no longer wants to play transgender roles.
Speaking with GQ magazine, the 25-year-old actress, who is herself transgender, noted that she has turned down "tons of trans roles" because she doesn't want to be typecast and prefers her gender identity not define the rest of her career.
"I don’t want to be that, and I find it ultimately demeaning to me and what I want to do," Schafer said. "I worked so hard to get to where I am, past these really hard points in my transition, and now I just want to be a girl and finally move on."
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!