The three-judge panel heard an appeal on “gender dysphoria.”
QUICK FACTS:
- A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday of last week that a man who identifies as a woman is protected and should be housed in a women’s jail.
- Two of the three judges ruled that “gender dysphoria” should be a protected class under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- The inmate, Williams, has been held at the Fairfax County, Virginia jail but will now be housed with female inmates, despite being physically male.
- The request had been seen as a violation of the prison policy that states that male inmates will be classified by their physiology rather than gender affiliation.
COVERED IN THE MAJORITY OPINION:
- Despite the majority opinion being 35 pages long, the conclusion seemed apparent from the opening phrase, which refers to the complainant as “a transgender woman with gender dysphoria.”
- That presentation of the facts in the majority opinion seemed to tip the court’s hand on the issue.
- The court started its analysis of whether a person should be housed in a male or female prison by referencing the plaintiff as a person with gender dysphoria.
- Following that, the rest of the opinion consistently seemed to empathize with the transgender mindset by complying with the plaintiff’s arguments to the point of consistently using feminine pronouns for the biological male petitioner.
- The opinion also covered whether a person with gender dysphoria should be allowed to raise a claim under the ADA, which typically excludes from its privileges, “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments.”
BACKGROUND:
- Law Enforcement Today called California’s move to let biological men into women’s prisons, “Cruel and unusual punishment,” last year in their coverage of the trend.
- The Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal referenced the Fourth Circuit’s decision calling it a “gross miscarriage of justice.”
