Key Moments in Transgender History

Transgender people have become increasingly visible in mainstream culture.  Not only have transgendered, transsexual, cross-dressed, and intersexed individuals made momentous gains legally, they are now publicly recognized and accepted.  Below is a list of the significant moments in transgender history in the second half of the twentieth century.

1952- Christine Jorgensen is a male-to-female transsexual and the first American whose sex-reassignment surgery was highly publicized in the media.

1969-Stonewall rebellion in New York City was supported by transgender and gender-variant individuals.

1974-Jan Morris, originally James Morris, wrote an autobiography, Conundrum, about her quest for personal identity; it is now a classic.

1975-Minneapolis, Minnesota is the first municipality to pass a local ordinance that prohibits discrimination against transgender people. (1)

1976-Tennis champion Renee Richards is barred from entering a women’s tennis tournament, but wins the case. Now transsexuals are legally accepted in their new identity after sex-reassignment surgery.

1980-The sodomy law is repudiated by the state court of New York (People vs. Onofre)

1989-Billy Tipton, a celebrated jazz musician is found to be a woman after his death.
 
1993-Minnesota is the first state to enact an anti-discrimination statute that prohibits transgender people and transsexuals from discriminated in the areas of employment, education, housing, and public accommodations.(2)

1993- Transgender adolescent Brandon Teena was raped and murdered in Nebraska; his death led to the making of the movie Boys Don’t Cry.

1999-California passes legislation that prohibits employment discrimination against transgendered teachers and public-school employees.(3)

1999-The first Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance is established to commemorate individuals suffering from transgender prejudice and discrimination.

2000-Efforts to fire a transgendered high school teacher in Northern California is defeated (Warfield v. California Commission on Teacher Credentialing)

2002-First state appeals court holds that employment discrimination against a public employee because of his or her sexual orientation is prohibited (Davis v. Pullman Memorial Hospital)

2003-U.S. Supreme Court strikes down all remaining sodomy laws, recognizing that same-sex relationships deserve the same respect as heterosexual relationships (Lawrence v. Texas)

2004-Federal appeals court rules that prison wardens can be sued for failing to protect an inmate because of his sexual orientation (Johnson v. Johnson)

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