J.D. v Lackner was a court case between a transgender woman, J.D., and California State Department of Health Director Jerome Lackner, who tried to restrict Medi-Cal coverage of J.D.’s bottom surgery. J.D. lived in San Francisco and, like many transgender people during the time, started transition with Dr. Donald Laub at Stanford’s Gender Dysphoria Clinic. Dr. Laub submitted a petition for Medi-Cal coverage of J.D.’s transition in 1976, and Lackner refused coverage. On April 20th, 1978, the California Court of Appeal ruled in favor of J.D., granting Medi-Cal coverage of transgender healthcare.
The very first sentence of this article that mentions “the transsexual community” signifies that a specific community of people existed and organized for rights during 1976 including Berkeley’s Eon society. Angela Douglas co-founded Eon Society, and the only mention of the group exists in the Barb. While the author is likely not a member of Eon or Douglas herself, they present a stance that is clearly supportive of J.D. The article works both as a source of news for both the trans and cis community and as a rallying call for the transgender community to come together and fight. Even outside of roommate and sex worker ads, The Berkeley Barb worked to connect transgender people with one another, and offered a space of inclusion.
To read more about the decision of J.D. v Lackner follow this link.