The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a national social-liberal legal center which advocates for the interests of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals and is almost entirely operated by such individuals. TLC was founded in 2002 by Chris Daley and Dylan Vade as a project of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. In 2004, TLC spun off as an independent non-profit.

TLC is best known for the cases, Quine v. Beard, which granted the right of California inmates to be imprisoned according to their chosen gender, and Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District, which put transgender individuals under Title IX.

TLC sued the administration of President Donald Trump for removing an anti-discrimination clause from Obamacare.

Agenda

The Transgender Law Center is in the process of designing what it has titled the “Trans Agenda,” which outlines far-left social and policy goals for the transgender community based on intersectional principles. From what has been written, the Agenda appears to support more government intervention in health care access, more liberal immigration policies, and legal protection for sex workers. ¹²

The Agenda especially focuses on racial minority transgender individuals. One of the top priorities is reducing violence towards trans black people. TLC defines violence beyond physical coercion, including assigning gender at birth, discrimination, assuming conventional gender norms, and systematic social oppression. The Agenda seeks more racial minority trans people in positions of power, the confirmation of chosen gender and names by government agencies (such as state Departments of Motor Vehicles), restorative justice policies, the counting of black trans individuals in the U.S. Census, and the elimination of pre-trial incarceration. ³

Programs

Black Trans Circles

In 2018, the Transgender Law Center established Black Trans Circles with funding provided by the Open Society Foundations, the grantmaking network of George Soros. Black Trans Circles provides support for Black trans individuals, a group which the Transgender Law Center claims faces disproportionately high discrimination and violence within the LGBT community. ⁴

In 2020, Black Trans Circles received a grant over “six figures” from Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ⁵

Disability Project

In 2019, TLC began the Disability Project under the leadership of Sebastian Margaret, who had received a Soros Justice Fellowship grant from George Soros. The Disability Project engages in community organizing with disabled LGBT individuals. ⁶

TLC@Song

In 2014, TLC formed TLC@Song in conjunction with Southerners on New Ground, an LGBT advocacy group focused on the Southeastern United States. In 2019, TLC@Song produced the Grapevine Report, a survey of Southern transgender individuals which found that 72% of respondents made less than $45,000 per year, 12% were currently or formerly incarcerated, and 15% were HIV-positive. ⁷

Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP)

Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) was created by the Transgender Law Center in 2017 through a Soros Justice Fellowship. ⁸ It is a grantee of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, and in 2020, BLMP received a grant over “six figures” from Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^{9 10}

Major Cases

Quine v. Beard

In 2014, the Transgender Law Center filed a suit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) on behalf of Shiloh Quine, a transgender woman held in a men’s prison. Shiloh had asked to be transferred to a women’s prison, to be given women’s clothes, and to be permitted to commence with gender-reassignment surgery. All requests were denied. TLC argued that the CDCR’s restrictions constituted cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore violated the 8^th Amendment. ¹¹

In 2015, the CDCR agreed to permit Shiloh’s gender reassignment surgery and then move her to a women’s prison. The case has set a precedent in California to allow transgender individuals to be imprisoned according to their chosen gender,¹² and for sexual reassignment surgery to be considered a medical necessity by the state government. ¹³

Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District

In 2016, TLC filed a suit against the Kenosha Unified School District on behalf of Ash Whitaker, a transgender male student who alleged that his high school was engaging in discriminatory and abusive behavior toward him. Whitaker claimed that he had been denied access to the men’s restroom, had been consistently referred to by his old female name by teachers (a practice condemned by transgender activists as “deadnaming”), and that the school administration had suggested forcing transgender students to wear bright green wristbands to monitor their bathroom use. ¹⁴

A federal court ruled in favor of Ash. The school district appealed the case to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals which confirmed the ruling. The case set a federal precedent that transgender individuals are protected under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. ¹⁵

HHS Lawsuit

In July 2020, TLC sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the Trump administration’s rule that removed non-discrimination protection from the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). TLC’s lawsuit is cosigned by the Campaign for Southern Equality, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) of Harvard Law School, and law firm Hogan Lovells. The lawsuit is arguing that the removal of the clause violates the recent Bostock v. Clayton County ruling that prohibits firing employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. ¹⁶

Leadership

Kris Hayashi

Kris Hayashi is the executive director of the Transgender Law Center and is a long-time LGBT activist. After graduating from Stanford University, Hayashi became executive director of the California-based Youth United for Community Action, a progressive advocacy group run by young racial minorities. He left the organization seven years later to work at the Western States Center, a left-wing Portland-based community organizing group. In 2003, Hayashi became executive director of the Audre Lorde Project, a community organizing group in New York City for LGBT individuals. Hayashi left in 2013 to join TLC. ¹⁷¹⁸

Masen Davis

Masen Davis worked as executive director of TLC from 2007 to 2015 and has a long career in LGBT advocacy and fundraising. Prior to TLC, Davis worked as a community investment officer and director of development for United Way of Greater Los Angeles. After working at TLC for over 7.5 years, Davis became interim co-director of Global Acton for Trans Equality (GATE). He then operated as an independent nonprofit consultant for almost three years before working for short periods at the Gill Foundation, Freedom for All Americans, and Out & Equal. He is currently the interim executive director of Transgender Europe. ¹⁹

Funding

The Transgender Law Center is funded by numerous left-of-center nonprofits. It has received grants consistently from Borealis Philanthropy since at least 2016. ²⁰ Since 2010, TLC has received $1,216,500 from the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. ²¹ In 2016, the Arcus Foundation donated to TLC. ²² George Soros’s Open Society Foundations have also contributed to TLC. ²³

1. “Trans Agenda.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/trans-agenda-for-liberation.
2. “Black Trans Women and Black Trans Femmes: Leading & Living Fiercely.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/black-trans-women-black-trans-femmes-leading-living-fiercely.
3. “Black Trans Women and Black Trans Femmes: Leading & Living Fiercely.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/black-trans-women-black-trans-femmes-leading-living-fiercely.
4. “Black Trans Circles.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/black-trans-circles.
5. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. “BLACK LIVES MATTER 2020 IMPACT REPORT.” Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, 2021. https://blacklivesmatter.com/2020-impact-report/.
6. “Disability Project.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/disability-project.
7. “TLC@Song.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/tlcsong.
8. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Transgender Law Center. 2017. Schedule O. Return Reference, Part III, Line 4d.
9. “Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project.” Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice, October 7, 2019. https://www.astraeafoundation.org/stories/black-lgbtqia-migrant-project/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAs5eCBhCBARIsAEhk4r4BA0v3xBlc2UdPp3luv1j8PkzSshBEc-Qb-cAgvs61SuflE9bLEJkaAucSEALw_wcB.
10. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. “BLACK LIVES MATTER 2020 IMPACT REPORT.” Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, 2021. https://blacklivesmatter.com/2020-impact-report/.
11. “Quine vs. Beard.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/quine-v-beard.
12. “Quine vs. Beard.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/quine-v-beard.
13. “Quine v. Beard.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/archives/case/quine-v-beard.
14. “Whitaker v. Kenosha.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/legal/youth/whitaker.
15. “Whitaker v. Kenosha.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/legal/youth/whitaker.
16. Polaski, Adam. “New Lawsuit Against Trump Anti-Transgender Healthcare Rollback Rule Filed by Civil Rights Orgs, Representing Campaign for Southern Equality, Others.” Campaign for Southern Equality. July 9, 2020. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://southernequality.org/new-lawsuit-against-trump-anti-transgender-healthcare-rollback-rule-filed-by-civil-rights-orgs-representing-campaign-for-southern-equality-and-others/.
17. “Kris Hayashi.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/about/staff-and-board/kris-hayashi.
18. “Kris Hayashi.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-hayashi-365891111/.
19. “Masen Davis.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/masen/.
20. “Grantee Profile.” Borealis Philanthropy. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://borealisphilanthropy.org/grantee/transgender-law-center/.
21. “Transgender Law Center.” Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://www.haasjr.org/grants/grantee/transgender-law-center.
22. “Arcus Fall 2016 Grants Target Transgender Justice, Culture Change.” Arcus Foundation. October 12, 2016. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://www.arcusfoundation.org/arcus-fall-2016-grants-target-transgender-justice-culture-change/.
23. “Black Trans Circles.” Transgender Law Center. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/black-trans-circles.