Two small victories which are worth noting. First, the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, commissioners voted 6-3 to add employment protections for transgender workers. Their new policy now bans discrimination based on “actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.” The vote came down along party lines, with the Republicans sadly repeating the mantra of fear, uncertainty, and dread involving transgender persons. From the article:

Yet, Republicans Bill James, Karen Bentley and Matthew Ridenhour each objected.

James said the policy would allow “men in dresses” to use women’s restrooms.

“I don’t think that Mecklenburg County employees — the female ones — are going to want to be sitting in a stall in a bathroom and see a man in the stall next to them,” James said. “Just because a guy dresses like Little Bo Peep does not mean he gets to go into the women’s bathroom.”

That, from the “party of Lincoln?”

The second article regards a transgender student at the University of Manitoba, who won a victory which forces the University to enter mediation with him regarding overt discrimination by professors. From the article:

According to Leggett’s complaint, a professor once explained that she didn’t have to refer to him by anything but his birth name.

Another suggested that if Leggett had a moustache, she would consider calling him a man.

However, the University did win on other points, including “complaints about a Facebook group and unprofessional behavior.”