Law Commons^™

Taking The Square Peg Out Of The Round Hole: Addressing The Misclassification Of Transgendered Asylum Seekers, Ellen A. Jenkins

Golden Gate University Law Review

Part I provides the basic definitions and understandings this Comment will adopt within the transgender paradigm and provides an overview of United States asylum procedures and the immigration court structure. Part II discusses asylum applications based on sexual orientation and will address how subsequent cases have erroneously applied this social group to transgender applicants. Part II further highlights examples of adjudicatory issues that transgender asylum seekers may face as a result of not identifying as homosexual. Part III showcases the recognition and protection afforded to transgender plaintiffs in pivotal civil discrimination cases and, as a result, how their rights have …