Transexual Papier (Rough Draft.)

This is what i have so far. It doensn't have a good conclusion yet, and I need to work on my argument a little more, but for bones I like it. It isn't due until next Friday though, so I think I am happy with it.



A recent article in Times magazine gave me some incite on a topic I hadn't previously heard much about. In 2004 a retired Army Colonel applied and interviewed for the open position of terrorism research analyst for the Library of Congress. The initial interview went well, and soon everything seemed to be falling into place. A job offer was made and accepted. Soon though, the library found out that David John Schorer who had applied for the job was going to become Diane Jacquelyn Schorer who would do the work for the job and the offer was taken back. This was American discrimination at its finest. Just who was this man and what qualified her for the job? For an act to qualify as discrimination the pieces to a three part puzzle must all come together. Discrimination is the unfair biased judgment and treatment of a person based on one aspect of the person, and Diane should easily win the Civil liberties case.

Schroer was highly qualified for the position she interviewed for. Relation to terrorism and thus military knowledge, she was in the military for twenty-five years, and retired as a Colonel. He had over four hundred fifty parachute jumps and came highly decorated. He also was awarded the Defense Superior Medal. His personal know-how came from his personal home library which has over 16000 volumes relating to military history. For the library, this was a perfect application, so his advisors told him he had the job. Schroer had all the credentials to become the
Library of Congress' terrorism analyst; discrimination just moved in the way.

The first piece of the discrimination puzzle comes with the acceptance that Schroer is a person, even though he is a transsexual. A transsexual is a person who was born physically into the body of one gender, but they know in their hearts that they were meant to be the other gender. David was born a male, but he knows that he was meant to be a female. He spent his entire life knowing this fact, even to the point of cross dressing and taking hormones in private for many years. His life was kept secret for his military career, but soon enough the heart will always show its true colors. In 2005 he finally decided to take the steps to let his inside match his outside. Men are people, and women are people, therefore a man who becomes a woman would still be a person. The first piece of the discrimination puzzle has been solved: David, or Diane, is a person, and therefore can be discriminated against.

The second puzzle piece has to do with the unfair judgment of a person. When David had received the job offer he felt it only right to inform the library of his plans to live his life, inside and outside of work, as a female. Especially since there were many surgeries he may be having in the future to change his genitalia. To do this he took Charlotte Preece (who was in charge of hiring) to lunch at the local Chinese restaurant. When Schroer informed Preece of his plans to transfer his sex she exclaimed “Why would you want to do that?” (Cloud. 2008.) Preece thought that the transition would negatively affect Schroer's work. Saying that a man who becomes a woman isn't capable of doing a particular job is that same thing as saying a woman couldn't perform a particular job. Within twenty-four hours of their meeting, Schroer had been told that he was no longer wanted as a staff member for the library of Congress. The second piece of the discrimination puzzle is in hand because an unfair judgment has been made.

The third piece of the discrimination puzzle is the easiest to explore. After Charlotte adjusted her emotions and had a cigarette she, along with some of her co-workers, created a dialog then called Schroer to let him know that the job was no longer going to be offered. “She told him that the Library worried his transition would impair his top-secret security clearance.” He was no longer given his job opportunities based solely on his “sex”. The action has been taken against Schroer, therefore the third piece of the puzzle.

The court system has had the job of working with this case since 2005. The decision the courts had to make was if Schroer's case qualified under the Civil liberties as Sex-discrimination. On September 20, 2008, it was decided that this was indeed “sex” discrimination. The judge had this to say, “Schroer's case indeed rests on direct evidence, and compelling evidence, that the Library's hiring decision was infected by sex stereotypes.... She was well qualified for the job''(JD Unyon. 2008).The penalties for the library still have to be decided, but the right decision was made as to guilt in this case.


Works Cited.
1 John Cloud. Time. A Transsexual Vs. the Government. Retrieved October 1, 2008 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1840754,00.html
2. JD Unyon. Last Word. Diane Schroer wins case against Library of Congress' blatant transgender discrimination. Retrieved 1 October 2008. http://www.metroweekly.com/gauge/last_word/2008/09/diane-schroer-wins-case-agains.html