Foreword

AuthorPhyllis Randolph Frye, J.D.
ProfessionFirst out-of-the-closet transgender judge in the U.S.
Pages11-12
xi
FOREWORD
As I read the text of Transgender Persons and the Law, I felt grati ed at
how far transgender (TG) legal gains have come—as expressed in this book
by Ally Howell—since 1992 when I created the  rst international TG legal
conference in Houston. (Editor’s Note: Any scholar wishing to study the
“roots” of TG legal activism can  nd all  ve volumes of the proceedings
from the  ve international TG legal conferences at no cost at www.liber-
atinglaw.com. Select Phyllis Frye from the Our Lawyers pull-down menu,
and then click on Phyllis’s bio.)
Actually, my grati cation goes further back, as I recall being  red as an
engineer in 1976 and being told in 1978 by the Equal Employment Oppor-
tunity Commission after their investigation of my complaint that although
my  ring was discriminatory, it was not illegal in light of the 1977 federal
appeals case Holloway v. Arthur Anderson, 566 F.2d 659 (9th Cir. 1977).
This was the time in my life that I used my bene ts through the G.I. Bill to
go to law school. (In 1972, I was honorably discharged, but no less forced
out of the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant, Regular Army, when they learned
that I cross-dressed in private.)
Transgender Persons and the Law is a very comprehensive text. All law-
yers and lay activists dealing with this area of the law either in the courts
or in legislative lobbying should read it. Ms. Howell covers the following
areas of the law: (1) what is transgendered, (2) identi cation documents,
(3) public facilities, (4) housing issues, (5) military and veterans issues, (6)
family law, (7) school issues, (8) health care, (9) personal safety concerns,
(10) keeping a job and getting a job, (11) immigration issues, and (12)
criminal imprisonment issues. The appendices are extensive and thorough.
Obviously, there is much more work to be done in the area of TG legal
gains. Much of that work is currently being done by or through such orga-
nizations as the National LGBT Bar Association, the National Center for
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