U.N. Terrorism Report Cites Transgender Prejudice

A report to the U.N. expressing concern that transgendered persons might be caught up in security measures designed to catch terrorists have been lambasted by conservatives.

The report, authored by Martin Scheinin, who is a U.N. Special Rapporteur, warns that time and resources could be wasted by document verification procedures that might "risk unduly penalizing transgender persons whose personal appearance and data are subject to change," reports an Oct. 20 posting at conservative news site CNSNews.com.

The report calls for procedures to take into account that security officials may interact with "persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identities," and foresees potential misunderstandings between security personnel and transwomen.

Notes the report, "Enhanced immigration controls that focus attention on male bombers who may be dressing as females to avoid scrutiny make transgender persons susceptible to increased harassment and suspicion."

The report adds, "This jeopardizes the right of persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities to recognition before the law."

CNSNews.com quoted Center for Security Policy president and founder Frank Gaffney, who dismissed the need of counter-terrorism agents to avoid infringing on the rights of transgendered civilians.

"It strikes me as a parody of U.N. political correctness and sexual universality, and it's just hard for me to believe that anybody thinks that these notions actually should trump security concerns," Gaffney was quoted as saying.

Gaffney went on to add that, "the people who are trying to blow us up have absolutely no use for any of these sexual proclivities." Gaffney further made note of the fact that suicide bombers might use women's apparel to disguise themselves.

The article noted that the report also expressed concerns about Western powers operating according to too-strict preconceptions about the gender roles in other cultures.

The article went on to cite Heritage Foundation fellow Steven Groves, who attacked the report, saying, "Instead of the Human Rights Council focusing how the human rights of people who are blown apart by terrorists [are impacted] they created a new office for someone to go and make sure that the terrorists' human rights, and the human rights of almost everyone else--except for the victims of terrorism--are being protected, and so that is (Scheinin's) mission."

Groves extended his criticism to the United Nations as whole, saying, "That he would stray into some wrong-headed report about gender stereotypes as part of his mandate on counterterrorism isn't a surprise to me," Groves continued, "this is the way that the United Nations and the Human Rights Council work."

The report is due to be approved by the United nation's general Assembly, the article said, and conservatives have mobilized against it because of the "redefinition of gender" that it allegedly promotes.

Similar concerns about identification documents and transgendered individuals in everyday life in the United States have emerged recently. As an Aug. 17 EDGE article reported, whereas in some states transgendered individuals find it relatively easy, provided they have documentation from their doctor, to arrange for new driver's licenses that reflect the gender with which they identify and as which they live. But in other areas, it can be a battle to get updated documents that reflect the look and gender of those who have transitioned.

An Aug. 17 article posted by KETV Channel 7 News reported on one such case involving a transwoman named Posha Towers, who had changed her name from the more masculine Dominick and was living as a woman, but who could not get an updated drivers' license. As many transpeople do, Posha said that she had found relief in her new life as a woman, with her external appearance finally matching the inner truth of her gender. But while the manner of dress and the face she presents to the world may match her perception of herself as a woman, the Nebraska DMV was reluctant to allow Posha to change the photo on her license. The article quoted Posha as saying, "They said, 'We cannot give you a new ID picture.'"

Added Posha, "[They said,] 'You have to take the same picture you already have in the system.' I said, 'Why? I don't even look like that picture anymore,'" Posha recounted. Posha took her complaint to the mayor, to a state senator, and to the media, before finally being allowed to have a photo of herself that looked like her on her license.

Such bureaucratic hurdles can strand transgender people between the binary notions of gender to which many still cling. As a Jan. 4, 2007 EDGE article reported, as America becomes ever more security conscious, forms of identification like a drivers' license, a passport, or a birth certificate can be more and more difficult to update. For example, transpeople who live, dress, and look like the gender with which they identify may still be listed as belonging to the other gender on their passports if they have not undergone expensive genital reconstruction surgery--a step that many transpeople do not take due to the out-of-pocket costs involved.

Such barriers can be problematic. Mara Kiesling, the National Center for Transgender Equality's executive director, told EDGE, "We are more and more living in a country where having appropriate ID is necessary. Most of the focus on things like identification in news media has been around travel and how you need good ID to get on an airline," added Kiesling, who went on to note that, "you also need appropriate ID that matches to open a bank account, to ride on trains, to buy cigarettes, to drink alcohol and most importantly--far, far more importantly--to have a job." The end result is that transgendered people are more vulnerable to a de facto of discrimination than are others.