A Transgender Woman Is Suing a Senior Living Community for Discrimination
A senior living community in Maine is facing what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind discrimination claim for denying a room to a 78-year-old woman because she is transgender.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders filed a complaint Oct. 14 on the woman’s behalf with the Maine Human Rights Commission against the Sunrise Assisted Living community in Jonesport, ME. GLAD said it is the first known discriination complaint filed in the Unitd States by a transgender older adult against a long-term care facility.
According to the complaint, publicized Thursday, the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, was living at another assisted living community when she was admitted March 29 to a local hospital for an acute medical emergency. The medical staff determined she could not safely return to the assisted living community where she had lived, due to a trauma she experienced there. Instead, the medical staff said, she needed to move to another assisted living community.
