Gender discrimination has been outlawed in the United States since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  See, “Gender Equality and Discrimination in the Workplace.”  On January 1, 2012, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) will expand the concept of gender to bar discrimination for “gender identity” and “gender expression.”

Under this new FEHA provision, those who regard themselves as the sex opposite their original physical gender (e.g., trans-gender individuals) and those who dress and/or act outwardly as the opposite sex (e.g., cross-dressers) will be entitled to the same protections against mainstream gender discrimination (e.g. paying women less than men at the same or equivalent jobs).

While the law doesn’t give a specific definition of “gender identity,” it does define gender expression as “A person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”