The National Center for Transgender Equality has released a new “Blueprint for Equality” that outlines 99 steps that could be taken to advance the lives of transgender Americans. The report highlights various areas of concern for transgender people and the ways policies do not currently ensure transgender protection:

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: “Passing a federal law to prohibit gender identity discrimination in the most specific terms is essential to ensuring that employers understand and consistently follow the law, and therefore to eliminating anti-trans discrimination.”

HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS: “Whether it is fair participation in the rental and homebuying market or access to homeless shelters, the pervasive nature of discrimination follows trans people home.”

SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE SCHOOLS: “Bullying and violence in schools constitute a safety crisis, impacting the health and educational achievements of transgender and gender nonconforming youth.”

ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE: “In a groundbreaking 2011 report, the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) found that transgender people in the United States face serious health disparities and systemic barriers to care… At the same time, transgender people are more likely to be uninsured, to be unable to afford to pay for health care out of pocket, and to delay seeking health care because of cost or fear of discrimination.”

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Lack also serves as co-captain of the varsity debate team.

Atlanta teen Reuben Lack was Student Body President at Alpharetta High School until last February, when he suggested that the school’s prom should be inclusive of same-sex couples. His simple proposal was to have a gender-neutral “Prom Court” instead of a “Prom King and Queen,” and for trying to advance that idea on multiple occasions, his faculty advisors removed him from his leadership position. Now, Lack is suing the school, and the complaint explains the negative impact of the decision:

By removing him as Student Body President, Defendants sought to punish Lack for advocating for his position on issues of student concern, and sought to restrain his ability to advocate for those positions in his elected capacity as Student Body President… Defendants’ actions serve to silence Lack, and have a chilling effect upon student expression in general.

The school has declined to comment on the matter. This morning, Lack discussed the case with a local news station, describing how the teachers were “visibly agitated” and “very, very uncomfortable, to the point where they were almost angry” at the mere idea same-sex couples might have a chance to participate in the prom court. Watch it:

Our guest blogger is Crosby Burns, Research Associate for LGBT Progress.

Check out the report's infographic on the costs of workplace discrimination.

Discrimination is an unfortunate reality for many of our nation’s LGBT workers. Recent research and data show us that 42 percent of LGB workers and an astonishing 90 percent of transgender workers have experienced some form of discrimination on the job. Congress must pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to give these workers uniform and comprehensive protections against unfair and unjust workplace discrimination.

Until then, far too many gay and transgender workers will be forced into the ranks of the unemployed at a time when all families are struggling to stay afloat. But discrimination is not only a problem for gay and transgender workers. Workplace discrimination also imposes significant financial harm on businesses, introducing inefficiencies and costs that cut into profits and undermine the bottom line.

The Center for American Progress (CAP) documents these inefficiencies and costs in its groundbreaking new report entitled, “The Costly Business of Discrimination: The Economic Costs of Discrimination and the Financial Benefits of LGBT Equality in the workplace.” This report examines five core ways in which discrimination imposes significant financial harm on businesses:

• RECRUITMENT: When employers hire individuals based on job-irrelevant characteristics such as sexual orientation and gender identity, businesses are left with a substandard workforce that diminishes their ability to generate healthy profits.
• RETENTION: Discrimination forces otherwise qualified gay and transgender employees out of a job and into the ranks of the unemployed and introduces numerous turnover-related costs. According to a recent study, to replace a departing employee costs somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 for an hourly worker, and between $75,000 and $211,000 for an executive making $100,000 a year.
• JOB PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY: Sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace needlessly compromise maximum labor productivity and workforce output. Moreover, it introduces unnecessary costs by increasing absenteeism, lowering productivity, and fostering a less motivated, less entrepreneurial, and less committed workforce.
• MARKETING TO CONSUMERS: When companies discriminate and allow unfairness to go unchecked in the workplace, consumers increasingly react by actively choosing to do business elsewhere.
• LITIGATION: Businesses are increasingly liable for discrimination lawsuits even in states that have not outlawed gay and transgender discrimination, making discrimination economically unwise for companies in all 50 states. In 2010 the top 10 private plaintiff employment discrimination lawsuits cost firms more than $346 million.

Alternatively, the report unearths how policies that level the playing field for LGBT workers can bring a substantial amount of cash into company coffers. This is why America’s largest and most successful companies have implemented a range of policies that ensure the fair and equal treatment of LGBT workers. Of Fortune 100 companies, 93 percent have nondiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation, 74 percent for gender identity, and 86 percent provide equal partner health insurance benefits.

March 23 marks the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the Affordable Care Act is one of the greatest opportunities we have ever had to begin to close the LGBT health disparities gap. Thanks to the health care reform law, LGBT Americans across the country will soon be able to access insurance coverage and comprehensive health care services through the expansion of Medicaid and the sale of affordable private insurance through state-based Health Insurance Exchanges that are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Studies such as the Institute of Medicine’s 2011 report on LGBT health and CAP’s How to Close the LGBT Health Disparities Gap demonstrate that many other aspects of health care reform are also of vital importance to the health of LGBT communities. These include promoting prevention and wellness, supporting community health centers, and advancing cultural competency training for health care providers. The Affordable Care Act is also key to efforts to recognize the increasing diversity of America’s families and to improve data collection to better identify and address the full range of LGBT health disparities.

Learn more about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act for LGBT Americans today at 2 PM ET, when CAP and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force host a webinar entitled Learn Your Power: How the Affordable Care Act Helps LGBT Americans. The webinar will feature Mayra Alvarez, director of public health policy in the HHS Office of Health Reform; Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Kellan Baker, Health Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress; and Brad Clark, executive director at One Colorado, Colorado’s statewide LGBT equality organization.

A convenient excuse to cover up its crushing loss in New Hampshire yesterday, the National Organization for Marriage has launched a “Dump Starbucks” campaign in protest of the company’s support for marriage equality. The boycott’s website launched shortly after Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz rebuffed NOM’s complaints at a shareholders’ meeting yesterday:

SCHULTZ: I think Starbucks has many constituents, and from time to time we are going to make a decision that we think is consistent with the heritage and the tradition of the company that is perhaps maybe inconsistent with one group’s view of the world… We made that decision through the lens of humanity and being the kind of company that embraces diversity.

Starbucks came out in support of marriage equality in Washington state, where it’s based, and also recently joined an amicus brief in a case opposing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. The same can also be said for Google, Microsoft, Levi Strauss, and Nike, so expect additional boycotts to follow such as, “Give Up Google,” “Lose Your Levis,” and “Microsoft Off-it.” Plus, as Jeremy Hooper pointed out, one cannot dump Starbucks without first purchasing Starbucks, so the likelihood of the boycott making any headway is improbable.