Transgender Employees Face Extreme Discrimination in the Workplace

In June, plenty of cities stop business as usual for Pride.  But business as usual can be a difficult thing to endure in this society, especially if you are transgendered.

The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has released a comprehensive study on transgender discrimination that revealed employers have a long way to go before their workplaces are places where transgendered employees can feel safe and recognized for their professional achievements.

The study revealed that ninety percent of transgendered workers have encountered some form of harassment or mistreatment while they were at work.  This was notably worse for people of color.  By far, African American transgendered workers faced the worst conditions at work.

Recruiters can’t always see the discrimination that happens in all of the companies that they serve, but their role is very important in ending this form of discrimination.  Part of the problem has to do with the hiring process.  Forty-seven percent of workers have experienced an adverse job outcome because they are transgender.

The study revealed that forty-four percent of the respondents were were passed over for a job.  Twenty-three percent were denied a promotion.  And finally, 26 percent were fired because they were transgender.

As a result of so much discrimination based on what pronoun a person prefers or how a person chooses to dress, poverty has been a huge problem within the transgendered diaspora in this country.  The respondents to the survey were four times as likely as the general population to have a household income of less than ten thousand dollars.  Being transgendered does not include the ability to support oneself on so little.

In the upcoming year, Congress may be confronted with bills to help end this discrimination.  In the meantime, what can be done on the local level.