Jul 1
Our job is no longer giving us hours due to our disability.
Fuck.
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Türkiye
seen from South Africa
seen from China
seen from Thailand
seen from Yemen
seen from Türkiye
Our job is no longer giving us hours due to our disability.
Fuck.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a first-of-its-kind ruling from a federal appeals court that found people with gender dysphori
Okay as a disabled trans man, let me tell you how this sounds a lot better than it actually is.
The ADA is an amazing bill, it took a lot of work from disability activists to pass. It is still seen as a bit too progressive for a lot of corporate America because it requires businesses to accommodate their employees and to let disabled people use their services.
It is unique to disability because of accommodations. It needs to exist separately from other rights bills because disabled people cannot simply get equal access and have actual equality obtained. This bill is one of the few that focus on equity.
I have yet to be actually protected by the ADA as a disabled person. All of my progress and accommodations are from Section 504, which has a limited reach but is more enforced by the U.S. government.
Here are some reasons why this ruling has me incredibly conflicted:
Putting the protection under the diagnosis of gender dysphoria allows employers and other authority figures to require trans people to have that diagnosis to request "accommodations." Which will likely be seen as being able to change their name at work or school without a legal name change, go by pronouns other than their agab, use the correctly gendered spaces, etc. It puts the entire transgender identity into the hands of doctors.
Meaning that if a trans person wants to get basic respect, an employer can require them to get a doctors note for it. You need healthcare, time, and luck getting a doctor that will diagnose you if you are not already diagnosed.
This should be obvious but yeah, requesting accommodation gives employers the right to have some access to your medical records. Many people do not know that it's against the law for an employer to request medical records unrelated to disability, and employers will try to do that with trans people.
It has been stated by researchers that gender dysphoria should not be diagnosed unless specifically requested by the patient for health insurance coverage because of the stigma it causes and because how little health providers are informed on it.
This legal ruling for the United States puts all trans people under a medicalized view. It puts our rights not in our hands but in the hands of medical authority. A lot of trans people do not have a good fucking time at the doctors office despite the overwhelming support that transition should be seen as medically necessary.
It clarifies that gender dysphoria is seen as a mental disorder like other disabilities. If American society ran on the social model of disability, where disability is seen as a natural variation, this would be fine. Sadly, it runs on the medical model, where disability is seen as something to get fixed. This ruling implies that gender dysphoria is unnatural instead of a normal reaction to having a gender identity that does not match your birth-assigned one. This goes against the view that even medical practitioners take with gender dysphoria.
The ADA needs to be enforced by the individual in courts. If you are discriminated against, you need the time and money to go to court for years on something that is usually hard to prove. I got fired from a job for requesting accommodations but never did anything about it because even if I did have a case, not many lawyers would bother taking a reward from a minimum-wage job.
Small businesses (businesses with under 15 employees) do not need to abide by the ADA. At all. Under this, a small business denying trans people services is still completely legal.
"Analysis of cases decided under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which addresses employment discrimination, reveals that defendants have consistently prevailed in well over 90% of cases since the ADA’s inception."
Luckily the amended ADA in 2008 allows for the protection of those who are perceived as disabled, so even without diagnosis, there can still be a case when it comes to discrimination from strangers.
Still, even though it's disability pride month, it is not good to be lumped in with us regarding rights because often it's "hey that's illegal" and nothing comes of it. Public attitudes influence how laws are enforced, and public attitudes on disability are abysmal.
I am not trying to play the oppression Olympics, I am trying to give a good overview. This can be an improvement for some trans people, and it especially helps with the constant healthcare bans we are seeing. I am incredibly worried about this, though, and I need to share why that is.
The ruling could become a powerful tool to challenge legislation restricting access to medical care and other accommodations for transgender people, advocates say.
Only 28.8% of Indians with disabilities who have disability certificates, according to the survey. Disability pension and allowance premised on certification excludes the majority of people with disabilities, said Chennai-based lawyer Amba Salelkar, who works in the areas of disability law and policy. The certification process is complicated and relies heavily on a medical diagnosis model. "Research tells us that only one of every four persons with disabilities get certified, for a range of reasons, including the difficulty and inaccessibility of the process," said Salelkar. For persons with psychosocial disabilities, disability certification and ID cards are "temporary", since the prevalent understanding is that mental illness can be cured, Salelkar said. Therefore, people have to keep visiting the hospital to renew the validity.
Riddhi Dastidar, 'Insufficient, inconsistent: Mental health pension rarely reach the affected', Business Standard
The Anxious Law Student contents master-post
Hello! I’m a 2nd year law student and suffer from Agoraphobia (a sort of anxiety/panic disorder) :) I made this website for 3 reasons:
1. To post simplified summaries of various concepts of law, such that law students and non-law persons alike can comprehend them easily (and also be a form of my own revision).
2. To connect with (and validate) other law students who may suffer from mental disorders and/or physical disabilities.
3. To share my research, thereby document my academic prowess over the remaining 4 years of law school.
Following is a list of contents you will find over at my website :) [I post fortnightly (ish), so I’ll keep updating this list]
Home:
Sort of a Psych 101 as an intro to anxiety disorders- and breaking in the fact that law students, too, might suffer from them (as do I)
About Us:
A little bit about Team TALS
Purpose:
The primary aim of this website is to increase awareness and acceptance of people with disabilities- both, mental and physical. We firmly believe that no matter how many laws are passed or policies are formed, they will only remain words on a paper till every single person in a country fully comprehends and actively works on being more considerate and accepting of differences
Resources for Students:
This is the page containing my never-ending list of free resources that I personally found useful as a 1L, as well as paid resources and resources for internships and competitions (for, you know, CV purposes)
Legal Concepts (for Dummies)
This blog contains various concepts in law that I tried to make short and easy to understand summaries of. The individual pages under this folder are as follows:
Jurisprudence: What is jurisprudence? A big word, that's what. It sounded so complex when I'd first heard it but after a bit of clicking, I'd found it's a pretty basic concept. This synopsis is what I'd learnt- and I've provided links to the references.
Legal Systems: Another one of the very first concepts you learn at law school (even before, if you were a curious kid), I've made a compact synopsis of it, explaining 3 common legal systems for better understanding.
What is a ‘MISTAKE’ in the legal sense: Mistake is said to be any unintentional act, omission or error arising from the subconscious, ignorance, forgetfulness or misplaced confidence.
Academic Writing
Another blog, but this one is sorta special, bc its essays and articles I've written for coursework; all my basic research as a 1L
Mental disorder ‘doth excusat’ Criminal Liability: Severe mental disorders (or what law calls "insanity") is a strong defense from criminal liability. In this essay, I've covered the history and prominence of this defense to better understand it.
Why Marital Rape is Normalized in India- and Not Criminalized (Hint: Patriarchy): Marital rape refers to the non-consensual sexual intercourse after the marriage of a heterosexual couple, with the female being over 18 years of age (the age clause recently amended in Independent Thought v. Union of India).
Human Rights
This folder contains topics and resources to spread awareness and to contribute to improving the living conditions of people around the world, who have been victims of human rights violations time and again- and that needs to change.
Why ‘Different’ is Perfect: As the name of the page suggests, I've tried to simplify for the denser population who've yet to comprehend that being different is never a bad thing, and that it does not warrant being ridiculed or discriminated against.
Black Lives Matter: This page is dedicated to the blm, and I've linked all resources like donations and petitions to sign (which had already been complied in a master carrd, which I've linked in the references)
Help Yemen: This page is dedicated to the Yemen crisis, I've linked all resources like donations and petitions to sign (which had already been complied in a master carrd, which I've linked in the references)
Disability Law
This folder comprises research and resources to understand and moreover try to include persons with disabilities into the world instead of excluding and secluding them. If they don't fit your standards of "human beings", it's your standards that need to change.
Human Rights and Reality- Rights of Persons With Disabilities: Human rights are technically still simply a Utopian concept for a vast majority of the world, and that majority is comprised of minority groups such as persons with disability.
Disability Law Resources: This page lists all the important documents and websites and PDFs and whatnot (its literally never-ending) that I've used during my research for disability law and disability rights.
Contact Us
Apart from this Tumblr, you can get in touch with us to share your experience or tips, or just say hi over on the following :):
Email ‘[email protected]’
So...I may have signed up for the maximum number of credits this semester, which translates into 7 classes, or sixteen hours of in-class time per week. And I may have also committed to 19 hours a week as a law clerk. And am running two student organizations. And planning a wedding. While chronically ill. I may have overcommitted myself this semester but I'm genuinely deeply excited about everything I'm working on. But, I definitely need some accountability. So, back to lawblr I go. My goal is to post regularly about what I'm studying and the progress I've made, and maybe try the 100 Days of Productivity again. (I'm very forgetful, so the problem isn't actually being productive, but simply posting about it.) Let's do this.
Classes
This semester, I am taking *deep breath*
Natural Resource Law
Human Rights in the Global Economy
Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management
Special Education Law
Mental Health Law
Genetics and the Law
Women in Leadership
and a weekend-long seminar on Diversity in the Law.
I’ll be at work Mondays and Fridays and for a few hours on Tuesday, and in class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I...may also be lowkey considering signing up for another session of swordfighting, retaking the course on Italian Longsword and working towards hopefully getting an invitation to join my local swordfighting guild. I’ll wait and see just how completely exhausted I am though.
Just found out that a friend and classmate of mine will be joining my organization as a law clerk! I met up with her for coffee today to discuss the group, the work we do, and the office dynamic, and it was a good chance to reflect on my experience so far. This is the happiest I’ve ever felt at a job, which bodes well!