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Jimmie Smith, a male-to-female (MTF) transsexual firefighter in Salem, Ohio, prevailed in court against the city in the summer of 2004 for employment discrimination on the basis of sex. Sex is a protected category under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, along with race, color, religion, and national origin. Neither transsexualism, gender identity, nor gender expression is listed as a protected category in the statute, but the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that sex encompasses “gender non-conforming behavior and appearance”(Smith v. City of Salem 2004b, 571) and therefore transsexualism or transgenderism. Local officials began trying to fire Smith, a firefighter for seven years, as soon as he divulged his diagnosis of gender identity disorder and his plans to make a medically guided MTF transition. 1 Smith’s openness was prompted by coworkers’ inquiries about his appearance, arising from their …