Does the U.S. Constitution protect transgender people from discrimination?
Although the U.S. Supreme Court has never considered this question, we think the answer is yes. It is important to remember, however, that constitutional protections only cover discrimination or mistreatment by the government. The U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equality protects transgender people from being treated differently by the government because of fear or hostility. If, for example, a government supervisor imposes a dress code on a male-to-female transgender worker that is different from that required of other female workers for no reason other than his or her dislike of transgender people, that violates the constitutional right to equal treatment. Equality protections for transgender people are not yet nearly as robust as those for people of color and women. In our view, the First Amendment, which bars government from censoring speech or expression, also protects our right to dress in a way consistent with our gender identity. The way we dress is an important form of person
