Firefighter's Courageous Struggle to be Her True Self

Today I’d like to talk about a friend who has gone public, and she is one gutsy lady! Her name is Jimmie Lee Smith. She is the transgender firefighter from Salem, Ohio who fought and won a major United States Court of Appeals decision which helps all transgender people on the job.

I read two articles about Jimmie Lee. One is on www.gaypeopleschronicle.com written by Eric Resnick on December 25, 2004 and is called Firefighter settles suit that added TGs to 1964 rights law. The other article, on www.clevelandscene.com, was written by Chris Maag on January 19, 2005 and is called Salem Witch Hunt. Jimmie Lee was born male but always felt like a female emotionally, and before transitioning "he" talked in a high voice, had a female walk, and female mannerisms. "He" tried for many years to suppress the feminine side, but this caused "him" to have a drinking problem and to feel depressed and suicidal.

Several years ago, Jimmie Lee realized that she could no longer suppress her true self. Even though she was a firefighter in a small, conservative town, she realized that she had to come out as female. She had the guts to insist on being her true self even in this conservative, macho environment.

When Jimmie Lee came out as female, life at the fire department became very uncomfortable. Other people would leave the room when she entered, the guys told lots of gay jokes. When she told her bosses about the situation, a secret meeting was held to plan how to fire her. One of the participants, Hank Willard, warned Jimmie Lee of the plot. She hired transgender attorney Randi Barnabee who immediately worked to protect her rights and save her job.

Jimmie Lee sued, and this eventually led to a settlement allowing her to keep her job. The decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals followed the reasoning in the case Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, in which a woman was denied a promotion because she was too masculine. The Court said that the 1964 Civil Rights Act applied to transgender people because Jimmie Lee was being discriminated against on the basis of her gender and assumptions about how men are supposed to act. It is gender discrimination to expect a man or a woman to behave and look according to a particular stereotype.

Jimmie Lee still works at her job and she is completely out as a female in Salem. She endures a lot of harassment and stares in such a small conservative town and is very brave to be true to herself instead of trying to hide. This makes life very hard for her wife Ellie as well. Both of them are courageous women!

Now the City of Salem has come up with a new way to get rid of Jimmie Lee legally. They are trying to disband and get rid of the fire department altogether! But Jimmie Lee is not giving up and is working hard to save the department and her fellow firefighters’ jobs.