Library of Transsexual Congress

You really have to feel sorry for this guy, who has honorably served our country but, sadly, has some issues about his correct sex. He received a job offer from the Library of Congress, but it was withdrawn when, well, here's when:

Schroer began a job search that led last fall to the Library of Congress, which had an opening for a terrorism research analyst. Schroer said officials were thrilled when an applicant offered an operational background, rather than merely an academic one.

Interviewing as David, Schroer beat out 18 contenders and got all the way to discussions of salary and start date. Then Schroer asked the future supervisor out for lunch.

The supervisor, Schroer said, talked about the office and introduced David Schroer as the new researcher. At lunch, Schroer told her that the person coming to work would be Diane.

Schroer tried to make the supervisor more comfortable, explaining the surgeries and showing her pictures of Diane in a dress. "No one wants to go through life being the punch line of a joke. I'm not going to do this if I'm going to look like a truck driver in a dress. I wanted her to see I looked good, professional," Schroer said.

But the next day, Schroer said, the supervisor called and withdrew the offer.

Needless to say, Schroer and the ACLU are suing for sex discrimination.

Schroer is to file a lawsuit today accusing the Library of Congress of sex discrimination and asking that the job offer be reinstated, said Arthur B. Spitzer, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area.

* * * * *Spitzer said the case could face some obstacles. "Legal protection for transgender people is not at all clear. . . . Courts have not been as receptive as they need to be for providing discrimination protection for these people," he said.

And to think this entire quest may have been started when his therapist told him he was a 26-year-old.