Because transgender people so often experience discrimination at the hands of government institutions, many expect to encounter harassment and other challenges from our legal system. But a new study conducted by OutFront Minnesota and lawyer Ellen Krug found that many transgender Minnesotans report positive experiences with the courts.

We reached out to Federation member, OutFront Minnesota, to learn more about Breaking New Ground: A Study of Transgender People Interacting with the Minnesota Court System. We were able to connect with Phil Duran, Legal Director, who told us more about the report’s findings and what recommendations can be made for the court system.

Equality Federation: Why did OutFront Minnesota decide to conduct a report investigating how the Minnesota court system treats transgender individuals?
Phil Duran of OutFront Minnesota: OutFront Minnesota focuses on public policy issues, particularly those affecting LGBT Minnesotans' access to government at all levels, including the courts. A disproportionate amount of our legal program's efforts involve working with trans people, as they navigate name-change and birth-record amendment proceedings. We hoped to gain additional insight into how this was working for folks.

EF: How was the report conducted?
PD: We do stress this is not scientific. We posted an online survey on our website, promoted it at community events where we believed there would be numbers of trans people in attendance, and encouraged them to share it with their friends. We also did two small focus groups for follow-up.

EF: What were the major findings of the report? Was anything particularly surprising?
PD: We were surprised that most people seemed to feel the court experience was positive, in that their gender identity was either respected/affirmed or it seemed to make no difference at all. People were happy that judges used proper pronouns and other language and were respectful overall. Certainly, this was not the experience of all, and additional information could be provided to the courts to understand the context in which such people come into courts. But while many people thought courts would be hostile, in practice, most people did not experience this (similarly, people thought it would be hard to find a lawyer, but in practice, it seemed most had no difficulty in doing so that actually related to their being trans). Again, not a perfect picture, but more positive than many had expected.

EF: What recommendations does OutFront Minnesota have for the Minnesota court system based on the findings of the report?
PD: If there was a source of frustration, it seems likely to have to do with the somewhat challenging law around changing birth records -- it can be done, but many times judges don't realize this, and it can get confusing all around. However, that's more a problem with the vagueness in the law, rather than a problem with the courts per se. We definitely see value in seeking additional clarity in that law. Also, we see value in providing additional training to court staff around trans issues; we are conducting a training this fall through the State Law Library, for example, on trans legal issues, and we also piloted a similar training for the Hennepin County (Mpls) Attorney's Office last year.

EF: How can other court systems use Minnesota as a model for how to treat transgender individuals?
PD: We hope that this points out the positive benefits of simple respect -- using pronouns correctly, asking when uncertain (a question many have never been compelled to even consider), and understanding a bit more about the sort of road many court-users have traveled by the time they arrive in front of a judge.

Thank you OutFront Minnesota for your hard work advocating for the fair treatment of transgender individuals in the courts!