Americans with Disabilities Act and Gender Identity
Federal law against disability discrimination in private employment — the Americans with Disabilities Act — is generally not available as a source of protection for transgender workers. When enacted in 1990, the ADA explicitly exempted “transvestism, transsexualism … [and] gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments” from the definition of “disability” under the law.[i]
[i] Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 511, codified at 42 U.S.C. 12211(b)(1).
