Transgender Individuals In The Workplace

Transgender Individuals in the Workplace

Agenda § Statement of the problem § Gender Roles and Career Choices § Struggles in the Workplace 

§ Federal Protection 

§ Solutions/Recommendations 

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§ Transgender individuals continuously face difficulty within the business community concerning career choices, employment, and discrimination.

Image courtesy of www.tgender.net

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Definition § The word ‘transgender’ includes the community of all self identified cross gender people, including: § Intersex § Transsexual men and women § Cross dressers § Androgynous/Gender Benders § Performers

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Image courtesy of lgbt.studentaffairs.duke.edu/faqs/transgender… 5

Gender Roles and Career Choice §Begins as a child §Cultural expectations §Males more aggressive and dominant §Females more submissive and vulnerable §Affects appearance §Influences behavior

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Gender Roles and Career Choice §People typically assume gender role appropriate to physical body §Transgendered people go against socially acceptable gender roles §Creates disturbance among §Co-workers §Customers §Company

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Maggie Havas Quote: § "I would have a hard time hiring someone who is transgendered for a sales position. Appearances are everything in this line of work and unfortunately we have to take that into account during the hiring process." -Maggie Havas, Vice President of Sales First American Home Buyers Protection

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Trans-Friendly Careers § Offer more inclusive benefit packages § Have amended their Equal Opportunity Policy § Transgenders are more welcome in: § Government jobs § Human services § Social work Image courtesy of http://www.pcsproud.org.uk/reps_transgender.html 9

Search for Employment § Background check § ID may not match appearance § Difficulty checking work history § Lack of references

Image courtesy of www.workers.org/2007/us/sf-0816/ 10

Employment Process § W4 Forms § Other documents that may require some form of identification § Identification may not match current appearance § Some transgenders accused of fraud and had job offers withdrawn Image courtesy of http://glammodelz.com/glam/wpcontent/uploads/2008/12/transgender 11

§ Harassment § Discrimination § Hostile work environment § Being demoted

Image courtesy of www.caps.ucsf.edu/projects/TRANS/ 12

Struggles in the Workplace § Lack of healthcare coverage § Lack of benefits for domestic partner § Limits on short-term disability § Unemployment Image courtesy of http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040702/delhi.htm 13

Day-to-Day Struggles § Restrooms § Shunned by family § Personal information questions § Stereotyping § Resistance to change

Image courtesy of www.sharonwhiteagencies.com.au/.../Welco me.html 14

Why Prostitution? § High unemployment rates § Costly medical treatments § Easy way to make money § Cheap black market hormones Image courtesy of transgriot.blogspot.com/2007/11/makingchange... 15

http://www.youtube.com/wa

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The Killing of Cynthia Nicole § Transgendered International Human Rights Worker § Provided HIV/AIDS awareness education § Media Representative § January 9, 2009 she was shot § Killer still at large

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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 § Outlaws hiring or employment discrimination on the grounds of: § Race § Religion § Sex § National origin § But it does not mention sexual orientation or gender identity 

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The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 § Adds sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability status to the federal hate crimes statute § The House approved by a vote of 249 to 175 § Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate § President Obama expressed strong support for the bill

Image courtesy of http://pflagblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/pfla g-applauds-local-transgender.html

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Progress in New York § Global Strategy Group statewide poll § Protections from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and other areas of everyday life. Image courtesy of http://www.prideagenda.org/tabid/304/default.aspx?c= 346 20

Missouri Facts § Passed stricter Hate Crime Sentencing in 1999. § Washington State University in St. Louis is the only college in MO to have non-discrimination policies that include gender identity/expression. Image courtesy of www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=11 94 21

EO Policy Recommendations § Ensure employee confidentiality § Gender neutral dress code § Restroom/locker room access according to gender presentation

Image courtesy of transgriot.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-blacktra...

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EO Policy Recommendations § Remove health insurance and shortterm disability exclusions § Extend domestic partner benefits to both opposite and same-sex partners 

Image courtesy of http://www.hawaflcio.org/PAWHI/images/Pri dePic2008c.jpg

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Transitioning At Work §Share intent to transition §Request diversity training for coworkers §Change name and gender on all HR documents past and future §Ask company to amend Equal Opportunity policy Image courtesy of http://badgerherald.com/news/2007/11/15/Trans gender_JN.jpg 24

Hiring Can Be Beneficial § Enhance corporate reputation § Increase job satisfaction § Boost employee morale § Increased productivity § Reduce turnover § Decrease vulnerability to legal challenges.

Image courtesy of http://mfyrc.org/blog/lgbtissues-2/

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Where to Find Help § Many organizations and websites for transgenders to go to for help § www.gayjob.biz § http://www.tgender.net/taw/ § www.hrc.org § www.gendersanity.com-has a

great resources page for many websites about workplace transgender

§ http://www.abgender.com/tgorgs.htm-lists organizations (over 25 listed, plus international)

Image courtesy of www.boxturtlebulletin.com/category/tran sgender

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TransYouth Family Allies § Empowers children and families by partnering with educators, service providers and communities, to develop supportive environments in which gender may be expressed and respected. § Working toward a society free of suicide and violence in which ALL children are respected and celebrated.

Amethyst Ribbon Campaign

Images courtesy of: http://www.imatyfa.org/

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Conclusion § Statement of the problem § Gender Roles and Career Choices § Struggles in the Workplace § Federal Protection § Solutions/

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Questions?

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