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SACRAMENTO — After one lost her home and another lost his job, two transsexuals filed suit Monday under a new anti-discrimination law they say doesn’t go far enough to protect them. 

Supporters of transsexual and transgender rights say a favorable court ruling could set a landmark precedent that boosts protections for people who change their gender by dressing differently, taking hormones or having a sex-change operation. 

But opponents of the new law – which identifies transsexuals as a disabled group entitled to protection if they can prove their gender switch hampered their life – call it an example of bad policy gone wrong. 

Gary Johnson, 42, said he was hired last year at a Sacramento-based foster care and adoption agency. At the time, Johnson was appearing in public as a woman and using his given name, Gaynell. 

While working at Families for Children, he began dressing more masculine and was harassed, Johnson said. Eventually, he was placed on unpaid administrative leave. 

“The stress of it all was terrible,” he said. “They forced me out of the closet.” 

Johnson left his counseling job in February, but says the agency effectively fired him – a possible violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act if he can prove the agency acted against him because of his gender change. 

Since then, Johnson has legally changed his name and began taking testosterone injections, he said. He has been unable to find another job, despite his master’s degree in family and marriage counseling, he said. 

The second lawsuit, filed by Stanantha Jaros, claims her condominium homeowners’ association tried to get her to move out once they found out that she used to be a man. 

Neither the homeowners’ association nor Families for Children returned calls seeking comment. 

Karen Holgate, policy director for the Capitol Resource Institute, said the lawsuits were examples of bad policy. 

“This is a problem you get when you pass vague laws that try to give special rights for changeable traits,” Holgate said. 

”(This is about) someone who cares more about what can be worn to work than the children he was hired to serve,” she said. “Is it really about rights or to make a statement about an extremist agenda?” 

Johanna Rasmussen, spokeswoman for Eqalus, a Sacramento-based group for the gay and transgender community, said there are an estimated 35,000 to 60,000 transsexuals living in California. 

Johnson and Jaros are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.