Sienna

This is very well written! 

Genderqueer Chicago, USA

Thursday, May 27, 2010

By André Pérez

What are the stats? Some readers may be thinking, “We all know people that are

unemployed because of the economy. Why are trans people any different?” The overall unemployment rate has become a prevalent issue recently as it has climbed to %10. While statistics specifically addressing transgender employment are not available on a federal scale, there have been some local efforts to track this number, and experts agree that the unemployment rate among transgender and gender variant people is several times higher than the national average. A study in the San Francisco Bay Area conducted in 2006 of 194 transgender individuals found a 35% unemployment rate, with 59% earning less than $15,300 annually. Well before the recession began, in one of the most queer-friendly places on the country, the level of unemployment was more than seven times the amount of the general population (% 4.6 ). If you believe that discrimination plays a role in creating this inequality, then it is also reasonable to believe that the rate of unemployment in the trans community has more than doubled because increasing competition for jobs means employers have more discretion in whom they do and do not hire.

What’s the issue?

In one word—it’s complicated. Though employment does not take the spotlight in discussions of queer issues, it is one of the most persistent issues facing transgender and gender variant people, contributing to criminalization, homelessness, domestic violence, and HIV infection. When pushed out of traditional employment, some transgender people feel they have few options but to engage in the black market economy or to stay in abusive romantic relationships in order to support themselves. Some people engage in sex work, while others resort to running scams or petty theft in order to meet their needs. Due to the illegal nature of these options, transgender people go on to be over-represented in prison populations, where sexual assault is rampant and HIV rates are 2 to 3 times that of the average population (according to Bureau of Justice Statistics ). Not only does imprisonment and sex work increase the risk for HIV infection, but also, trans people who (either because they cannot afford medical care or because they do not have the necessary paperwork to access social services) buy hormones off of the streets often do not have access to clean needles. These issues all compound one another, often making it difficult for trans people to seek help or improve their situation.

How typical is this?

Many transgender and gender variant people experience significant periods of unemployment. Despite the dirth of research on the issue, anecdotal evidence would suggest that we get fired more often, are overwhelmingly more likely to experience harassment in the work place (for gender and/or for perceived sexual orientation regardless of one’s actual sexual orientation), and stay out of jobs longer than our cisgendered counterparts. Transgender and gender variant people experience employment discrimination at every stage of our lives. A disproportionately high number of homeless queer people are gender variant youth who have been kicked out of their parents’ homes after disclosing their gender identity and/or sexual orientation. Many go on to seek survival sex in order to secure basic needs such as housing and food. These youth often face insurmountable difficulty finishing high school and are discouraged from pursuing higher education due to lack of financial support. Older, more established people who come out as transgender often risk their families and jobs in doing so. While these people may be in a better position to take care of themselves financially than their younger counter parts, their employability may be more questionable because of age discrimination and gaps in experience (they often do not feel comfortable listing experiences or references prior to their transition if they are afraid of being outed). People who do not pass for any variety of reasons (biological factors, the age at which they began transition, having a non-normative gender expression, etc.) are especially vulnerable to discrimination.

What’s my deal?

Motivated in part by the recent discussion of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and in part by my own five-month job search, I am launching my own investigation into employment issues and the trans community. While this piece is more of a primer, I plan to do more research and collect interviews from gender variant people that I will combine into an audio piece. By getting the perspectives of activists, trans community members, social services workers, legislators, and many others, I hope to reveal some of the more overlooked aspects of this pressing issue. I plan to create an audio documentary piece that I will submit to NPR’s Third Coast Audio Festival and will continue to post written articles on this blog. If you are interested in the project and/or are willing to share your experience with me, let me know by e-mailing me at andrealanperez@gmail.com

Stay tuned for more information on ENDA as well as more specific information about the experiences of transgender and gender variant people in Chicago.

Posted by Genderqueer Chicago at 5:06 PM

http://genderqueerchicago.blogspot.com/2010/05/trans-unemploymenta-primer-part-1.html

Note from Sienna:  These statistics seem to be nearly consistent in all similar surveys.

Equality Across America, USA

Working while trans

April 25, 2010

While the right wing prattles on about a trans-inclusive ENDA as if it were a petty potty squabble, I decided to unveil some of the early findings on trans people’s experiences on the job from a recent survey for activists to use in building for an ENDA fight. The statistics on transgender people’s lives are stunning. According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 97 percent have experienced mistreatment, harassment or discrimination on the job.  Of those surveyed, 47 percent were denied a job, a promotion or were fired because of their gender identity. Despite higher levels of education than the population at large, 15 percent of transgender  people earn less than $10,000 per year, more than twice the national average. Twenty-seven percent reported incomes of $20,000 or less.

Hostile employers forced 32 percent to present themselves in the wrong gender in order to keep their jobs. While 62 percent of the overall population has access to health care at work, only 40 percent of transgender people do. 

Fight for a trans-inclusive ENDA Now. You can start by joining with other LGBT activists Saturday, May 1 to march on May Day in solidarity with immigrants and for LGBT workplace rights.  In solidarity-Sherry Wolf

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 1:09 pm and is

filed under Uncategorized.

http://equalityacrossamerica.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/working-while-trans/

Advocate.com, USA

Transgender Job-Seekers Face Discrimination

By Julie Bolcer

The pervasive discrimination faced by transgender job-seekers in New York and elsewhere was discussed Wednesday on WNYC FM in light of a devastating new report.

The report, "Transgender Need Not Apply ," from advocacy group Make the Road New York, was the subject of a conversation on The Brian Lehrer Show. Pauline Park, chair of the New

York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), joined fellow guest Kendall Thomas, professor and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Culture at Columbia University School of Law. In its report, Make the Road New York found a 42% net rate of

discrimination against transgender job-seekers. Some of the city’s most prominent retailers were inclined to reject transgender applicants with credentials equal to those of other applicants, the report found.  “The report by Make the Road NY simply confirms anecdotal evidence, which is, suggests that there is widespread, and deep, pervasive discrimination based on gender identity and expression here in New York City and in fact, throughout the country,” said Park on WNYC FM.  “We get calls at the NYAGRA office on a regular basis from people who have been denied jobs, who have had experiences such as the ones the

Road's discrimination testers have had ... people who have perfectly good qualifications who are denied employment simply because of their gender identity or gender presentation.”

Listen to the interview here.

More on this and other Transgender blogs at http://www.siennatg.org/apps/blog/entries/show/3318032-gender-neutral-bathrooms-at-ul

The University of Louisville has created six Gender Neutral Bathrooms.  This is obviously a transgender issue and further indication that the city of Louisville and especially UL is more and more transgender "friendly".

More information can be found at this UL LGBT Link:  http://louisville.edu/lgbt/news-and-events/university-makes-several-restrooms-gender-neutral

More about Sienna is at www.siennatg.org

en|Gender, USA

The LA Times has a new story about Christine Daniels which says much of what many of us expected: Daniels, who had been writing a sports-media column called Sound and Vision, had her last byline in The Times on April 4, 2008, then went on extended disability leave. She was despondent — close friends knew she was manic depressive — failing to eat and stricken with esophageal pain.  Daniels told Amy LaCoe, her transsexual friend, that she had

ruined her marriage and made a mess of her life. LaCoe insisted that Daniels stay with her for a couple months. “She stared at my bedroom ceiling for a long time,” LaCoe said. “She had stopped caring about herself.”  Daniels stopped taking hormones and began getting rid of the physical trappings of Christine, LaCoe said, giving the jewelry and shoe collection to friends, donating the wigs, carting the clothes to Goodwill. In a matter of months, the whole identity had been banished . . . . When the sportswriter returned to work as Mike Penner in late October 2008, co-workers noticed that his manner as remote, his handshake unsteady. His face was changed, the jaw line permanently smooth from electrolysis. He did not want to talk about his experience, much less write about it.  When a transsexual friend asked what had happened, Penner responded, “Well, that’s why there’s a real-life test.” Friends said

he held out hopes of saving his marriage, but by year’s end, his divorce was finalized.

Such a sad story.

http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/2010/03/28/christine-daniels-follow-up/

SAGA member Amanda Simpson has been appointed by the Obama Administration to be a Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce. She'll be working in the Bureau of Industry and Security.

"I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others."

Simpson brings considerable professional credentials to her new job. For thirty years, she has worked in the aerospace and defense industry, most recently serving as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems. She holds degrees in physics, engineering and business administration along with an extensive flight background. She is a certified flight instructor and test pilot with 20 years of experience.

Amanda has been a long-time SAGA member and enthusiastic supporter of local functions. Additionally, Amanda has participated on the board of Wingspan, the Southern Arizona ACLU and the Arizona Human Rights Fund (now Equality Arizona). She has served on the Board of Directors of two national organizations: Out & Equal and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

In 2004, the YWCA recognized Simpson as one of their "Women on the Move," and in the same year, she won the Democratic nomination to the Arizona House of Representatives. In 2005, she was given the Arizona Human Rights Foundation Individual Award.

Amanda will need to move to Washington, DC, but promises to remain in touch with Tucson and with SAGA. We share her hope that she will be joined by many other transgender people and our allies in serving our government.

12.09.2009 2:09pm EST

Earlier this week, Zikerria Bellamy filed a complaint against

McDonald’s for refusing to hire her because she is transgender.

One of the managers left a detailed voice mail message on Bellamy’s phone in July, saying “It doesn’t matter how many times you go down there, you will not get hired. We do not hire faggots. You lied to me.”

That manager has been fired.

A spokeswoman for McDonald’s told the Orlando Sentinel that the person

who left the voice message for Bellamy with antigay slurs was let go.

She said that the employee “acted outside the scope of his authority

and was not responsible,” adding “[McDonald’s] has a zero tolerance

policy prohibiting discrimination or harassment in the restaurant.”

Bellamy, 17, who has been living as a woman for six years, said that

on two separate occasions in July, she tried to get an interview at

the Orlando McDonald’s. Two separate managers refused to hire her.

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) then filed the complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations on Bellamy’s behalf.  Although one of the managers has been fired as a result of the derogatory statements made in the recording, McDonald’s did not indicate what happened to the second manager.