Jun 10, 2005  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR.  | COMMENTS     

The Library of Congress rescinded its offer to hire a decorated Army combat veteran who headed an elite anti-terrorism unit after it learned the retired colonel was in the process of changing genders from male to female.

Diane J. Schroer, 49, who served in the U.S. Army for 25 years as David Schroer, filed suit on June 2 in federal court in D.C., charging the Library of Congress with engaging in sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit says the Congressional Research Service acknowledged Schroer’s qualifications by offering her a job as a terrorism research analyst before rescinding the offer last December on grounds that she would not be a “good fit” at the CRS, which is an arm of the Library of Congress.

“After risking my life for more than 25 years for my country, I’ve been told I’m not worthy of the freedoms I worked so hard to protect,” Schroer said. “All I’m asking is to be judged by my abilities rather than my gender.”

Helen Dalrymple, a spokesperson for the Library of Congress, said the library has no comment on the case. However, she confirmed a statement by Bob Dardano, co-chair of the Library of Congress’s gay employee group, that several transgender employees currently work at the library.

“We don’t discriminate,” she said, when asked if the library has a policy on hiring transgendered persons.

Schroer received decorations and awards during a distinguished military career that included service in several of the Army’s elite units, including the Armored Cavalry, Airborne, Special Forces, and Special Operations Units. Schroer served in combat operations in Panama in 1989 and Haiti in 1994. After completing duties in Haiti, Schroer was named commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Special Forces Airborne Group at Fort Bragg, N.C., the lawsuit says.

In 1997, Schroer was assigned to the U.S. Special Operations Command, which plans, directs, and executes anti-terrorism operations throughout the world, the lawsuit says. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Army officials assigned Schroer to the post of director of a 120-person top secret unit that tracks and targets international terrorist organizations. Schroer’s duties included giving personal briefings to Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the U.S. Armed Forces, the lawsuit says.

Schroer retired from the military in 2004 at the rank of colonel and moved to the D.C. area to work for a consulting firm that conducts anti-terrorism and homeland security work for the government.

“We take the position that discrimination against transgendered persons is sex discrimination,” said Sharon McGowan, an attorney with the ACLU’s Gay & Lesbian Rights Project, which is representing Schroer.

Form of sex discrimination?
Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the ACLU’s D.C. office, which is assisting McGowan on the case, said the ACLU is hopeful but uncertain whether the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will rule that transgender discrimination is a form of sex discrimination.

The lawsuit also charges that the Library of Congress’s decision to deny the job to Schroer violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Schroer entered the job application and interview process as David Schroer, and dressed as a male. She did not inform officials of her plans to change her gender until after she was offered the job, the lawsuit says.

After being offered the job, Schroer said she invited her newly designated supervisor, CRS official Charlotte Preece, to lunch to discuss final details of her job. It was at that time that Schroer informed Preece that she planned to begin work two weeks later as Diane Schroer.