When Broadus notified his corporate law job of his intent to transition in 1995, he quickly found himself forced out of the company through a series of passive-aggressive attacks, including hourly phone calls from his supervisor and prohibitions against speaking with certain people. Even taking time off for stress leave failed to cure the problem. When he finally called it quits, he was shocked to learn that there were no laws under which he could sue for discrimination, and began a decades long quest to remedy the problem.

Though best known for founding the Trans People of Color Coalition and being the first trans person to testify before the US Senate when he spoke on ENDA, Broadus is also an attorney, professor at Lincoln University of Missouri, board member of the National Black Justice Coalition (an organization for black LGBT folks), and the 2011 recipient of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Sue J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement. His blog (not updated since 2012) can be found here, and you can follow his active Twitter account here. For more information on employment discrimination faced by trans people – and a mention of Broadus – click here.