The Georgia General Assembly engaged in sex discrimination when it fired Vandy Beth Glenn after she announced she was transitioning from male to female, a federal judge has ruled.

Glenn, who worked as a legislative editor, was hired in 2005 and fired two years later.  U.S. District Judge Richard Story rejected arguments that Glenn would cause legislators to lose confidence in the Office of Legislative Counsel where she worked.

“[A]voiding the anticipated negative reactions of others cannot serve as a sufficient basis for discrimination and does not constitute an important government interest,” Story said in his opinion, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Gov. Don Carcieri has vetoed a bill that would have expanded Rhode Island’s hate crimes laws to cover gender expression and identity, a move sought by the powerful anti-LGBT lobby the Family Research Council, which praised Carcieri’s decision.

“Given the challenges facing America, it’s troubling that any legislature would invest time and taxpayer monies to consider such a superfluous agenda-driven maneuver, much less pass it through both Houses,” FRC said in a statement, according to EDGE Boston.

Providence Mayor David Cicilline, who is seeking the Congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, responded to Carcieri’s veto in a statement to Gay Politics:

“I am extremely disappointed that Governor Carcieri chose to oppose protecting individuals from hate crimes based upon gender identity.  His decision to veto this legislation is especially disturbing since our state was founded on the basic principle of freedom of expression.  I will continue to work to ensure that discrimination of any kind based upon gender identity or expression is prohibited in Rhode Island,” Cicilline said.

State House Speaker Gordon D. Fox has not decided whether legislators will return to the capitol to attempt to override Carcieri’s veto.

Victoria Kolakowski knows she’d make history if she wins her race for Alameda County, Calif. Superior Court judge, but that’s not why she wants voters to support her.  ”It’s not like I’m going to be elected and be ‘the transgender judge.’  If I’m not going to be able to represent the entire community or have the skills for the job, I don’t want people to vote for me,” Kolakowski tells the San Francisco Chronicle.

With more than two decades of experience as a private attorney, corporate attorney and an administrative law judge, Kolakowski said her broad experience makes her qualified and ready to don judicial robes.

She was the top vote-getter earlier this month, and now faces a runoff against one other opponent in the countywide race.  Kolakowski has been endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Equality California.

Learn more about her race here.

A new State Department policy announced last night will mean transgender individuals will more easily be able to change the gender listed on their U.S. passports.

Previously, the U.S. government required transgender individuals to complete sex reassignment surgery to change their gender on passports, but the new rule will allow a change if a doctor confirms the person is undergoing clinical treatment for gender transition, according to the Washington Post.

In an e-mail last night from the White House Media Affairs Office, the State Department spelled out the new policy:

Beginning June 10, when a passport applicant presents a certification from an attending medical physician that the applicant has undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition, the passport will reflect the new gender.  The guidelines include detailed information about what information the certification must include.  It is also possible to obtain a limited-validity passport if the physician’s statement shows the applicant is in the process of gender transition.  No additional medical records are required.  Sexual reassignment surgery is no longer a prerequisite for passport issuance.  A Consular Report of Birth Abroad can also be amended with the new gender.

As with all passport applicants, passport issuing officers at embassies and consulates abroad and domestic passport agencies and centers will only ask appropriate questions to obtain information necessary to determine citizenship and identity.

The new policy and procedures are based on standards and recommendations of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), recognized by the American Medical Association as the authority in this field.

Though most media outlets and Malawi officials have referred to a “gay couple” being sentenced to 14 years in prison this week–a development that even drew a harsh rebuke from the White House–reports suggest the couple actually identifies as a man and a transgender woman.

The blog Questioning Transphobia has posted a video from Gender DynamiX, a South African transgender rights group, reporting on a protest over the sentence.  Gender DynamiX said in a statement, “Today activists the world over protested the conviction of two gay men in Malawi. Even though activists from many different political persuasions joined hands in a protest in Cape Town today, local transgender activists are highlighting the fact that Tiwonge Chimbalanga clearly expresses a female identity.”

The distinction is important, but perhaps lost on Malawi officials and their supporters who approved of the harsh sentence.