New Gender Frontiers for the ADA

• Pages: 11-13
• Date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Sara E. Costello
• Subject Matter: Civil Law

New Gender Frontiers

for the ADA

By Sara E. Coste llo,

Litigation News Associate Editor

Gender dysphoria is a dis-

ability that can be protected

under the Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA),

a federal appellate court

held. Williams v. Kincaid involved a

transgender prisoner who alleged that

prison ofcials violated the ADA dur-

ing her incarceration. The appellate

court based its ruling on the ADA’s

text, which does not explicitly exclude

gender dysphoria from the statute’s

coverage. The court also placed impor-

tance on the ADA’s 2008 amendments

which endorsed an expansive deni-

tion of “disability.”

ABA Litigation Section leaders

heralded the change and agree that

the appellate court correctly inter-

preted the ADA. But Litigation Section

leaders also warn that other federal

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11 | ABA LITIGATION SECTIO N

Published in Litigation News Volume 48, Number 2, Winter 2023. © 2023 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or

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