Oiler, who has been married for more than 23 years, has known since childhood that his gender identity is not stereotypically male. He cross-dresses to express his femininity. Like many people who are gender-variant in some way, Oiler was outcast earlier in life and consequently kept his identity secret until coming out as transgendered to close friends and family in 1996. Peter Oiler's experience is relatively common. The International Foundation for Gender Education estimates that 75 percent of cross-dressers are heterosexual men, many of whom are married.
Gender nonconformance occurs in people of different sexual orientations, marital statuses and sexes.
The case filed today is Peter Oiler v. Winn-Dixie Stores. In addition to Middleton, Oiler is represented by Ron Wilson, a leading civil rights attorney volunteering on the case for the ACLU Foundation of Louisiana. Winn-Dixie will have a month to file a response to the lawsuit before additional court action is scheduled. Recent clarification by the Associated Press Style Book generally indicates that transgendered people should be identified in the terms they use to describe themselves. Male pronouns are appropriate in referring to Oiler.