October 4, 2007
We Think Someone Has “Expert Identity Disorder”
“Ex-transgender”? 
What a maroon…
Montgomery Co. [Maryland] Council hears testimony on transgender bill
While presenting her testimony to the Montgomery County Council Tuesday, Oct. 2, against the passage of a bill that would protect transgender people by adding the words “gender identity” to the county’s anti-discrimination policy, Dr. Ruth Jacobs, an infectious disease and allergy specialist, wore a white lab coat — completing the look with a stethoscope around her neck. Looking like she had just walked off the set of Grey’s Anatomy, Jacobs, the only person to offer testimony against the bill at the public hearing, warned that passage of Bill No. 23-07, sponsored by Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large), would discriminate against “ex-transgenders.” These are, she claims, people who have “stepped out of” being transgender.
Bandying the technical term “gender identity disorder,” a controversial diagnosis generally required in the United States before gender reassignment surgery may be performed, Jacobs asked the Council to “be true to biology.”
Trachtenberg, who holds a master’s degree in social work and once maintained a private practice in adolescent addiction, said she found Jacobs’ testimony biased and lacking in merit because of Jacobs’ lack of experience and training in dealing with the transgender community.
. . .
Lois Hackey, compliance program manager for Montgomery County’s Office of Human Rights, spoke on behalf of Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, who also supports the bill.
. . .
“Discrimination is happening in Montgomery County, as much as we’d like to pride ourselves in having a progressive jurisdiction,” Furmansky told the Council. “I hope we can all be able to agree that people should be able to live their lives free from discrimination and should be judged on the basis of their ability to do a job.”
Filed under: Maryland, Random Stupidity, Transgender
