'Trans'-forming Corporate America...

[victoriajaye]

'Trans'-forming Corporate America From General Motors to Google, more companies are agreeing to protect transgender people from discrimination. Fortune's Marc Gunther reports. http://money. cnn.com/2007/ 07/23/magazines/ fortune/transgen der_workplace. fortune/index. htm

By Marc Gunther, Fortune senior writer
July 24 2007: 5:58 AM EDT


(Fortune Magazine) -- When David Rosen became Donna Rose, the people in charge of the human resources department at her company didn't know what to think. Nor did her colleagues.
David was a former wrestler, a husband and a dad. Donna was on her way to becoming a post-operative transsexual woman. This was 1999, and her employer, PCS Health Systems of Scottsdale, Arizona (now a unit of CVS Caremark (Charts, Fortune 500)), had never dealt with a transgender person.

Nothing awful happened. Rose kept her job as a technology manager. But she didn't get asked out to lunch much, and she was left out of the office football pool. "It was obvious that they weren't comfortable around me," she says, "and I wasn't comfortable with them not being comfortable around me." Before long, she quit.
Lots has changed since then. Rose took a job at Dell (Charts, Fortune 500), where she worked happily for four years. She wrote a book about her experiences and made a DVD called "Understanding Transgender Issues" with Eastman Kodak and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people. Now she speaks to companies, including J.C. Penney, J.P. Morgan Chase and the America Online unit of Time Warner, about gender identity and diversity.
It's a safe bet that, even today, most Americans have probably never met a transgender person. Many don't know what the term means. But corporate America is learning, fast.
Wal-Mart shuns gay groups
Transgender is a broad term that refers to people who don't conform to traditional genders. It includes transsexuals -- people who change gender through an established process, often using hormone therapy or sex-change surgery -- as well as people who have taken on a gender identity that differs from their biological sex.
A 2007 "State of the Workplace" report just published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) says that 125 of the Fortune 500 companies now specifically prohibit job discrimination against transgender employees. Five years ago, only 15 of the Fortune 500 promised to protect transgender people from on-the-job bias.
Just in the last 18 months, defense contractors Honeywell, Boeing (Charts, Fortune 500) and Northrop Grumman (Charts, Fortune 500), automakers Ford and General Motors (Charts, Fortune 500), hotel firms Hilton (Charts, Fortune 500), Starwood and Marriott (Charts, Fortune 500) and Internet giants Yahoo and Google (Charts, Fortune 500) have added protections for transgender workers. About 70 big companies offer comprehensive medical coverage for transgender employees, including those in transition, according to the HRC.
Why the change?
"This is a direct result of the organizing that employees have done on the issue of sexual orientation, " says Daryl Herrschaft, who oversees the HRC's workplace project. As gay and lesbian employees form internal networking and lobbying groups, they have been able to persuade their employers to protect transgender rights as well.
Broader social forces are also at work. Movies like "Boys Don't Cry" (1999) and "Transmerica" (2005) exposed transgender characters to audiences. Last spring, Newsweek published a cover story called "The Mystery of Gender," and an L.A. Times sportswriter named Mike Penner told his readers that he would take a vacation and return as a woman, Christine Daniels.
After the city manager in Largo, Florida, disclosed that he planned to have a sex-change operation, he got lots of attention -- and lost his job.
Only a small number of people are thought to be transgender -- no reliable statistics are available -- but for those who are going through a transition, workplace support is essential.
100 Best Companies to Work for
"There is that day where they come in and present as another gender," Herrschaft says. "That's the critical moment, not only for transgender people, but for their managers and their companies."
Companies may need to explain the situation to other workers, devise a restroom policy and decide how to handle such logistical issues as how to remake ID badges. Typically, transgender people must spend at least a year presenting themselves as their preferred sex before undergoing sex-change surgery.
The HRC offers guidelines for employers and the group is releasing Rose's DVD, which tells her story. Rose, who is 48, has joined the board of HRC, as an advocate for transgender people.
She never planned to become an activist, she told me the other day. "All I ever really wanted to be was Donna," she said.

[MizzJune]

Wow- this was a very informative article, VictoriaJaye(thanks for posting) unfortunately, because an employer can get away with discriminating against a person based upon their gender- concrete laws (like GENDA) need to be passed in order to protect trans people in the workplace. i just hope that a proposal such as GENDA is actually passed before the year 2010!

[victoriajaye]

Glad you liked it MizzJune! Its just nice to see companies taking notice in a positive way---even if there is still a long way to go!

[MizzJune]

Yeah, I know sweets...but I'm so idealistic, that I envision what things SHOULD be... Not necessarily what they ARE:(

[shellie_dee]

:confused: This one hits really close to home for me. I struggle daily, waking up and haveing to change back to Mike so I can go to work. It makes me want to cry that I cant be me, instead I have to be the person they hired (Mike). I dont know for sure what the reaction will be when I come out at work, however with my hair growing out and my eyebrows thin and arched, some will have no problem believing me.

The other issue is the "guys club" where I work is a Technology (Small) that is all guys on my team. They are very shovinistic guys that talk about things that guys usually talk about in their circle. I have been one of the guys for only a few months at this new job and they know me as Mike a normal acting guy that just recently got divorced.

I havent figured out the balance yet and I havent had the courage to talk to HR yet because I am still not sure if I want to open that door there yet.

So confused. :confused:

S

[Viridian]

Well from personal experience it's a huge step to go full-time and step into a workplace as a "new person". I don't think I could have transitioned at an existing job. Personally, I think a fresh start is in order for that sort of thing.

At my last job pre-transition, I had hair down to my mid back, 3 sets of pierced earrings, long fingernails, 6 rings on my hands, and I was wearing what I thought were fairly reasonable women's clothes - black or navy pants, sweater tops/shirts and "comfortable" women's shoes.

Yeah I was badass stealth. Nobody saw THAT coming :lol:

My advice for you is to find a new job. Indicate to prospective employers that you're transgendered, that you're looking for a place that cares about its workers and get some decent references. That'll pretty much cover you. Be prepared to look for work in alternate fields. Self-employment might be an option, but it depends on your personal situation.

I've dealt with both sides of this coin. I've been a reasonably successful computer consultant (pre) and I've been a piss-poor data entry clerk (post). It's not the money, it's the situation and the people you work with that make the difference. You might be surprised at how happy you'll be if you switch jobs.

Data entry was my first job post-transition. I walked in to the door the first day nervous as anything, with shoes a size too big and clunking all over the place. By the end of the day I was basically happy as a clam. I'd survived the gauntlet. Coming back the next day was 100 times harder, but I did that too. I made new friends, got in trouble, made enemies, the usual :lol:

It was totally worth it. I survived a character assassination attempt that some disgruntled people tossed at me through HR and came out with my job intact. Friends rallied around me and it was really nice to have the support. I even confessed my crush on the gorgeous, busty, tall redhead HR administrator, Sara. THAT was tough but I felt we both understood each other well enough that I could disclose it. She was pretty understanding about it and I respected her for acting the way she did.

All in all it was a pretty positive experience. The company itself ground through people like a chainsaw but that's just data entry. I'm glad I took the chance and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I met people there that were wonderful and are still friends 3-4 years later.

[shellie_dee]

thanks for the advice hun. I have thought about switching jobs but the money is way to good to not try to transition here.. giggle.

Hugs,

S:-)


Well from personal experience it's a huge step to go full-time and step into a workplace as a "new person". I don't think I could have transitioned at an existing job. Personally, I think a fresh start is in order for that sort of thing.

At my last job pre-transition, I had hair down to my mid back, 3 sets of pierced earrings, long fingernails, 6 rings on my hands, and I was wearing what I thought were fairly reasonable women's clothes - black or navy pants, sweater tops/shirts and "comfortable" women's shoes.

Yeah I was badass stealth. Nobody saw THAT coming :lol:

My advice for you is to find a new job. Indicate to prospective employers that you're transgendered, that you're looking for a place that cares about its workers and get some decent references. That'll pretty much cover you. Be prepared to look for work in alternate fields. Self-employment might be an option, but it depends on your personal situation.

I've dealt with both sides of this coin. I've been a reasonably successful computer consultant (pre) and I've been a piss-poor data entry clerk (post). It's not the money, it's the situation and the people you work with that make the difference. You might be surprised at how happy you'll be if you switch jobs.

Data entry was my first job post-transition. I walked in to the door the first day nervous as anything, with shoes a size too big and clunking all over the place. By the end of the day I was basically happy as a clam. I'd survived the gauntlet. Coming back the next day was 100 times harder, but I did that too. I made new friends, got in trouble, made enemies, the usual :lol:

It was totally worth it. I survived a character assassination attempt that some disgruntled people tossed at me through HR and came out with my job intact. Friends rallied around me and it was really nice to have the support. I even confessed my crush on the gorgeous, busty, tall redhead HR administrator, Sara. THAT was tough but I felt we both understood each other well enough that I could disclose it. She was pretty understanding about it and I respected her for acting the way she did.

All in all it was a pretty positive experience. The company itself ground through people like a chainsaw but that's just data entry. I'm glad I took the chance and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I met people there that were wonderful and are still friends 3-4 years later.

[maggiegee]

Well from personal experience it's a huge step to go full-time and step into a workplace as a "new person". I don't think I could have transitioned at an existing job. Personally, I think a fresh start is in order for that sort of thing.

At my last job pre-transition, I had hair down to my mid back, 3 sets of pierced earrings, long fingernails, 6 rings on my hands, and I was wearing what I thought were fairly reasonable women's clothes - black or navy pants, sweater tops/shirts and "comfortable" women's shoes.

Yeah I was badass stealth. Nobody saw THAT coming :lol:

My advice for you is to find a new job. Indicate to prospective employers that you're transgendered, that you're looking for a place that cares about its workers and get some decent references. That'll pretty much cover you. Be prepared to look for work in alternate fields. Self-employment might be an option, but it depends on your personal situation.

I've dealt with both sides of this coin. I've been a reasonably successful computer consultant (pre) and I've been a piss-poor data entry clerk (post). It's not the money, it's the situation and the people you work with that make the difference. You might be surprised at how happy you'll be if you switch jobs.

Data entry was my first job post-transition. I walked in to the door the first day nervous as anything, with shoes a size too big and clunking all over the place. By the end of the day I was basically happy as a clam. I'd survived the gauntlet. Coming back the next day was 100 times harder, but I did that too. I made new friends, got in trouble, made enemies, the usual :lol:

It was totally worth it. I survived a character assassination attempt that some disgruntled people tossed at me through HR and came out with my job intact. Friends rallied around me and it was really nice to have the support. I even confessed my crush on the gorgeous, busty, tall redhead HR administrator, Sara. THAT was tough but I felt we both understood each other well enough that I could disclose it. She was pretty understanding about it and I respected her for acting the way she did.

All in all it was a pretty positive experience. The company itself ground through people like a chainsaw but that's just data entry. I'm glad I took the chance and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I met people there that were wonderful and are still friends 3-4 years later.

Viridian, I loved your workplace story, particularly the 'stealth clothes'. :)

This may be helpful to folks:

This link is to employers with non-discrimination policies
that include gender identity. (http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Search_the_Database&Template=/CustomSource/WorkNet/srch.cfm&searchtypeid=1&searchSubTypeID=1)

[genrichkarlovichjr]

"Sitting here, movin my mind with your words...."People really liked it Several people came up to me afterwards and asked about the band, so I hope there are a few more fans coming this direction.

[autheds09]

Just wondering what trans. is in my 94 2dr. Blazer.

350 TBI/ Auto??? What trans. would be in those that year??? 700r4 or 4l60??

Just curious, also where could I look on the truck to find out?? Codes?? Trans. pan shape??

Thanks.

[jennyk]

Kalfus bro you are one of the few intelligent and open minded Americans I known ot only on this forum, but in America as well. This is the first time i have seen a video like this, that too on the itnernet, I have NEVER seen a video like that on T.V, or on the news. Thanks bro.

[Bainnamef]

And if they dont have a law enshrining the sacred marital bond of two men, or two women or even if such laws only apply at the regional/provincial level, then you might as well be in Nazi Germany.