Housing Works: Housing Prevents AIDS. Housing Improves Health.

Bumpus v. New York City Transit Authority

In 2006, a New York City Transit Authority employee subjected transgender New Yorker Tracy Bumpus to a long, public, and virulently homophobic and transphobic tirade after she asked for help with a malfunctioning Metro card. Two subway riders who witnessed the incident later followed Bumpus when she got off the train and hurled more homophobic epithets at her, causing Bumpus to fear for her safety. Returning to her subway station a week later, Bumpus was again mocked by the Transit Authority employee in front of another Transit Authority employee.

The harassment eventually led to Housing Works’ decision to sue the Transit Authority employee for discriminating on the basis of gender identity—a violation of the city’s Human Rights Law—as well as the Transit Authority itself, for failing to properly train and supervise its employees, and to deal with the incident. Housing Works has long been a champion of transgender rights and a provider of transgender services. Transgender people are disproprotionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

A Landmark Ruling

In a major win for all transgender New Yorkers, an appeals court ruled unanimously in 2009 against the Transit Authority when it sought to have the case against Bumpus dismissed. The court said that New York City Transit Authority employees are not exempt from the New York City Human Rights Law, and thus can be held liable for discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.

In the original February 2008 ruling Justice Robert J. Miller explained, “The Human Rights Law affords protection to transgender people in New York City. By riding the subway, a transgender person doesn’t become less of a person and lose the protection of the Human Rights Law.”

In May, Justice Miller ruled that Bumpus’s partner could not be asked “plainly improper” questions about his sexual orientation simply because gender discrimination is at stake.

“The filing of a civil lawsuit is not a passport which allows exploration or invasion of the most intimate beliefs a person may have based on half baked psychology or timeless stereotypes,” Miller explained.

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