The Department of Justice Tuesday let a deadline pass to appeal a 2005 judgment involving a transgender female who lost a job offer at the Library of Congress while transitioning from male to female. The decision awarded Diane Schroer, a retired Army Special Forces commander, $491,190 in compensation after a job offer was rescinded once she told Library of Congress officials she was transitioning from male to female.

In 2005 the American Civil Liberties Union defended Schroer, arguing the government was guilty of sex discrimination, and citing the Civil Rights Act of 1965. The Bush Administration had unsuccessfully argued against any claim of discrimination, saying that transsexuality was not covered under the law.

This decision fits President Obama’s promise to protect transgender federal workers from discrimination in the workplace, according to the ACLU, and comes at a time when Obama has been criticized as not being aggressive enough on LGBT issues. To Schroer, the decision, “gives me renewed hope and restores some of my shaken faith in what our country stands for,” she told the New York Times.

Congressman Barney Frank introduced a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act last week.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is once again under fire for misconduct. A recent internal Department of Justice investigation has found that the former senior counsel to Gonzalez, Monica Goodling, violated federal non-discrimination laws when she denied a job extension to an attorney she believed to be a lesbian.

Goodling, who also served as the department’s liaison to the White House, denied extending an appointment to former Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Hagen of Michigan because of rumors that Hagen was a lesbian. The discovery of Goodling’s conduct toward Hagen was part of a broader, year-long investigation into the 2006 firings of eight U.S. Attorneys under Gonzales, all of which were believed to be led by political motives. Goodling, who had resigned in April of 2007 amid controversy surrounding her involvement in the firings, is now believed to have played a much larger role in the scandal.

A graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University Law School, Goodling was one of many young religious conservatives employed by the Bush Administration.

Employment Attorney Elaine Kaplan, a lesbian who heads the office responsible for federal job discrimination investigations, cited the importance of this finding.

“It reconfirms that sexual orientation in the federal workforce is illegal,” Kaplan said. “This is an example of the Justice Department’s Inspector General taking a stand that sexual orientation discrimination violates the law.”

The Washington Blade reports:

Beginning in 2002, Hagen worked under Chiara as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, where she prosecuted cases on Indian reservations. In October 2005, she was recruited for a job in Washington that involved serving as liaison between the Justice Department and a special U.S. Attorney’s committee on Native American criminal justice issues.

The Washington job was considered a “detailed” rather than a permanent position and was based in the DOJ’s Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

According to the Inspector General-Office of Professional Responsibility report, Dan Villegas, Hagen’s supervisor, offered her an extension for her detailed post in the summer of 2006, saying colleagues and associates familiar with the Native American liaison office praised her for doing an excellent job.

The report says Villegas told investigators that he received word that Goodling rejected his proposal to extend Hagen’s detail assignment based on a “political decision” rather than on her job performance.

“In fact, [Hagen’s] 2006 performance appraisal, which covered her detail at Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, rated her performance as ‘outstanding’ on all performance elements, the highest possible appraisal,” the report states.

Other Justice Department officials reported that Goodling made it known that she wanted Hagen terminated from her post and didn’t want her to be considered for any other Justice Department job, the report says.

“Several witnesses told us that Goodling’s opposition to the extension of the detail was based at least in part on [Hagen’s] alleged sexual orientation,” the report states.

While the Defense of Marriage Act bans federal employees from receiving benefits for same-sex partners, employees in the Department of Justice can now receive benefits for their children.

According to 365 Gay, a legal opinion sought by the acting general counsel of the Social Security Administration said: “Although DOMA limits the definition of “marriage” and “spouse” for purposes of federal law, the Social Security Act does not condition eligibility for [benefits] on the existence of a marriage or on the federal rights of a spouse in the circumstances of this case; rather, eligibility turns upon the State’s recognition of a parent-child relationship, and specifically, the right to inherit as a child under state law.”

365 reports:

The request for a legal opinion involved the child of a lesbian couple, identified only as Karen and Monique who had a civil union in Vermont.

In 2005 Monique gave birth to a son. The child’s birth certificate listed Karen as “second parent”.

That same year Karen began receiving Social Security disability benefits and she filed a claim for additional benefits on behalf of her son.

Under Social Security the minor children of adults who receive disability benefits can also claim benefits.

The legal opinion does not say why Social Security asked the Justice Department for a determination in the case, but it appears the Social Security Administration was conflicted as to whether it was barred from providing benefits to the child under federal DOMA.

“A child’s inheritance rights under state law may be independent of the existence of a marriage or spousal relationship, and that is indeed the case in Vermont. Accordingly, we conclude that nothing in DOMA would prevent the non-biological child of a partner in a Vermont civil union from receiving CIB under the Social Security Act,” the opinion prepared by Steven Engel, deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said.