The Legal Liberation and Empowerment of Transsexual People A broad perspective and detailed discussion of South Africa*

Transsexual people are generallydiscriminated against, ridiculed andalienated by transphobic reactions byemployers and co-employees at work.Nonetheless, it appears that awareness ofthe condition is increasing because ofgreater societal acceptance of transsexualpeople, re-assignment surgery and hormonereplacement therapy more easily available,and coverage by the media. The articleinvestigates the nature, causes, diagnosisand prevalence of transsexualism. Thealignment of a transsexual person’s sexualexpression with her or his internal identityby surgery, hormone therapy and postureand voice training are discussed. RelevantSouth African laws serve as background fora critical discussion of the first two reportedcases dealing with discrimination againsttranssexual people in the workplace. Thewriter welcomes the Labour Court’sapproach of destigmatising transsexualismand allowing no unfair discriminationagainst such people. The writer views thejudgments as wake-up calls for employers toembrace the diversity of their employeeswith the resultant effect of betteremployment relations, which will, hopefully,enhance the quality of working life fortranssexual people, and will have a positiveripple effect on broader society.Recommendations are made to raiseawareness of transphobia andtranssexualism among employers, themedical community, government and thewider population to relieve the plight oftranssexual people