The Hell We’ve Been Through
Transgender Discrimination
The society of the United States is heteronormative and cisnormative. In other words, most Americans assume that any given stranger is heterosexual and/or has a gender identity which matches their biological sex. These norms sometimes force LGBT people to live double lives.
“As I see fit”
Katherine Marie McIntyre always sensed she was a woman. She was born Robert Henry McIntyre in 1944. The Patriot News reported, “By day, she was Robert Henry, a parking authority maintenance worker. By night, she was Katherine Marie McIntyre, a towering woman with reddish-brown hair.” In 1995, the Dauphin County Court ruled she could not change her name without getting gender affirming surgery. McIntyre told the Patriot, “I have a right to live my life as I see fit.” The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the state legally recognized her as a woman on July 21, 1998.
