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Gender Identity Making News
There's nothing like a little national publicity to light a fire under HR. Since February, when the city manager of Largo, Fla., was fired after announcing he planned to have a sex-change operation, companies across the country have been clamoring for advice on transgender issues. Jillian Weiss, a consultant to large companies and public agencies on transgender and workplace diversity issues, says the case of Steve Stanton has prompted a flood of interest from HR departments around the country. "No one in human resources is unaware that this issue is coming to the fore," says Weiss, who is also a professor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, in Mahwah, N.J. "But now they realize it could affect them, that anyone could come into their office tomorrow and say, 'I've been working here as John, and I'm going to come in on Monday as Jane.' " Weiss says that although employees of private companies have been fired in the past for announcing sex-changes -- "There's a tremendous amount of discrimination based on gender identity" -- Stanton was the first public official to lose his job over the issue. Stanton made national news when he announced he planned to become a woman, and hoped to continue working as city manager, a job he had held for 14 years. But Largo's city commission fired him in a 5-2 vote. The commissioner said Stanton wasn't fired because he was changing genders, but because they questioned his ability to lead. He created more headlines last month, when he told his story on the CNN talk show Larry King Live. Although Stanton says he had no plans to sue the officials who fired him, private companies are increasingly worried that handling a transgender case incorrectly could lead to a lawsuit, says Weiss. "There's so many issues," she says. Not only making sure that transgender employees aren't discriminated against, but "what do you do with Social Security records, what do you do with bathrooms, what kind of insurance benefits are you supposed to provide?" Such questions cover not only employees who have had sex changes, but also those who are going through the transition process, as well as cross-dressers, Weiss says. Weiss says 125 of Fortune 500 companies now have EEO policies that address gender identity. As companies compete for the best talent, they don't want to be seen as unfriendly to diversity, says Weiss, and "gender identity is the next frontier." It's a new frontier that has received an unusual amount of attention recently. In April, Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner wrote a column saying he was going on vacation for a few weeks, and would return as "Christine." "I am a transsexual sportswriter," he wrote. Penner received unqualified support from his editors and most of the readers who phoned and e-mailed the newspaper, according to the Times. This fall, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill that will protect gay and transgender employees from workplace discrimination.
July 1, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications |
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