Transgender news updates
Stanton appeals his firing
The St. Petersburg Times reported yesterday that fired city manager Stanton was appealing the commission's 5-2 decision. "I'm trying to do what I have to do to be a full person and get my job back," said Stanton. The request for the hearing will be made in 30 days, to provide time to put together a thorough presentation. The presentation, up to 3 hours long, will include experts in medicine, psychology and the workplace transition process.
Although it's exciting to hear that Stanton has decided to fight this, it is upsetting to realize all that needs to go into a presentation. National experts in multiple fields just to say someone can work in a position they've held for 14 years? A job they're not being fired from for incompetence or anything along those lines, but just because the pronouns that co-workers use to address someone will need to change? The burden is still too heavy.
Transgender Workplace Diversity
Speaking of transgender work related news, I've recently subscribed to a syndicated Transgender Workplace Diversity blog that also has a feed option for LiveJournal. There were a ton of news items on my friends page when I logged in today, so I just picked out a few that piqued my interest to summarize here:
U.S. federal bill for gender identity protection
A new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will be introduced in the House and Senate, to revise Title VII to include protection on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity.
This will be the first time that the latter will be included, as sponsors of the bill have in the past refused to include protection for transgender people fearing difficulty in getting the bill passed. Yes, because the bill has been so readily accepted thus far without gender identity (ENDA has been introduced multiple times over the last 2 decades).
This doesn't mean that in-community (meaning from the GLB camp) resistance to this new inclusion had died out or even mellowed much. You can see examples in this if you visit the blog article linked above.
Ivy League students see gender identity policies in place
We all know why I'm including this one here. I'm looking at you MSU, my own alma mater, that has consistently refused to join so many other institutions of higher education to make sure that trans students can go to class and know they can contest that D they got on their paper because the professor is transphobic. This is an old post, made in October of last year, but needs repeating. ALL EIGHT of the Ivy League colleges have had gender identity protection in place since September 2006. What's keeping you lagging behind Michigan State? I thought you were a 'leader' in ensuring a diverse campus. Looks like you can't even handle being a follower.
Transjobless
This post links to a San Francisco Bay Guardian article that starts with the tag line: "Imagine trying to find a job without a shred of work history. Welcome to the transgender job hunt." The article discusses the findings of a survey done by the Transgender Law Center whose findings include the following:
* Out of 194 people surveyed, only 1 out of 4 had a full-time job, with an additional 16% working part-time, putting the unemployment rate within this group to almost 60%.
* 59% made less than $15,333, which indicates they live in poverty. Only 4% reported making more than $61,200, the Bay Area's median income. Thus 96% earn less than the area's average.
* 57% said they experienced some form of employment discrimination.
The article then goes on to discuss some of the hurdles facing transgender job applicants, peppered with some personal stories from folks that experienced them, and the 'transgender glass ceiling'. It is well worth the read, and it's short and straightforward enough for folks to spend 5-10 minutes on it.
The St. Petersburg Times reported yesterday that fired city manager Stanton was appealing the commission's 5-2 decision. "I'm trying to do what I have to do to be a full person and get my job back," said Stanton. The request for the hearing will be made in 30 days, to provide time to put together a thorough presentation. The presentation, up to 3 hours long, will include experts in medicine, psychology and the workplace transition process.
Although it's exciting to hear that Stanton has decided to fight this, it is upsetting to realize all that needs to go into a presentation. National experts in multiple fields just to say someone can work in a position they've held for 14 years? A job they're not being fired from for incompetence or anything along those lines, but just because the pronouns that co-workers use to address someone will need to change? The burden is still too heavy.
Transgender Workplace Diversity
Speaking of transgender work related news, I've recently subscribed to a syndicated Transgender Workplace Diversity blog that also has a feed option for LiveJournal. There were a ton of news items on my friends page when I logged in today, so I just picked out a few that piqued my interest to summarize here:
U.S. federal bill for gender identity protection
A new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will be introduced in the House and Senate, to revise Title VII to include protection on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity.
This will be the first time that the latter will be included, as sponsors of the bill have in the past refused to include protection for transgender people fearing difficulty in getting the bill passed. Yes, because the bill has been so readily accepted thus far without gender identity (ENDA has been introduced multiple times over the last 2 decades).
This doesn't mean that in-community (meaning from the GLB camp) resistance to this new inclusion had died out or even mellowed much. You can see examples in this if you visit the blog article linked above.
Ivy League students see gender identity policies in place
We all know why I'm including this one here. I'm looking at you MSU, my own alma mater, that has consistently refused to join so many other institutions of higher education to make sure that trans students can go to class and know they can contest that D they got on their paper because the professor is transphobic. This is an old post, made in October of last year, but needs repeating. ALL EIGHT of the Ivy League colleges have had gender identity protection in place since September 2006. What's keeping you lagging behind Michigan State? I thought you were a 'leader' in ensuring a diverse campus. Looks like you can't even handle being a follower.
Transjobless
This post links to a San Francisco Bay Guardian article that starts with the tag line: "Imagine trying to find a job without a shred of work history. Welcome to the transgender job hunt." The article discusses the findings of a survey done by the Transgender Law Center whose findings include the following:
* Out of 194 people surveyed, only 1 out of 4 had a full-time job, with an additional 16% working part-time, putting the unemployment rate within this group to almost 60%.
* 59% made less than $15,333, which indicates they live in poverty. Only 4% reported making more than $61,200, the Bay Area's median income. Thus 96% earn less than the area's average.
* 57% said they experienced some form of employment discrimination.
The article then goes on to discuss some of the hurdles facing transgender job applicants, peppered with some personal stories from folks that experienced them, and the 'transgender glass ceiling'. It is well worth the read, and it's short and straightforward enough for folks to spend 5-10 minutes on it.