#transdiscrimination

I'm honestly confused and upset right now. I tried to join the community @@trans-rights, but the moderator (@blintzestein) refused me three times, without explanation — and now I've been blocked.

I'm new to Tumblr and I really don't understand what I did wrong. What do I have to prove to be accepted as trans in a trans community? This kind of gatekeeping is hurtful and disappointing.

If there's a reason for this, I’d really appreciate an explanation.

There are two main forms of institutionalization I have come across so far in researching for my project. The main one I have also read about and seen in the news and other forms of media. There are some states that do refuse to pass legislation that protects the rights of transgender individuals and allows them to be fired for their gender identity. Since the government itself refuses to pass legislation it sends the message that they are viewed as less important and can become the target of discrimination at work since there are no repercussions to their actions. Everyone should be concerned about this because it says that the government is allowed to determine some people as being less valuable than others. The people behind these laws should also be worried because the Supreme Court has ruled that transgender are protected under the law nationwide and hence they can, and should, face fairly substantial punishments.

 Another place I have seen this discrimination is in teaching positions, though the cause of it differs between the actual school and parents. This discrimination happens in all levels of schooling, from elementary school to college. Some parents think the teachers gender shouldn’t be a distraction while others identity trans individuals as sex offenders. Sometimes the school also decides to remove a teacher from their position after they return, presenting as a different gender than before. The problem with this is it sends a message to kids that trans individuals are wrong and without having any experience or knowledge about them can cause kids be confused later on in life with gender binary non-conforming persons.

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/07/the-k-12-binary/398060/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwao.12093/epdf

This article examines aspects of the life of Claire, a transgender woman, is three different situations. Two of them are work related situations and Claire, being an IT manager and someone who works with clients. Her position is higher up in the organization than many others so there would likely be less discrimination than others in the same company at lower levels. The purpose of this article is to teach about the experiences of transgender people through their own stories and experiences, not through stories and news from cis-gender dominant media.

The data collected from Claire was collected over several interviews in which they talked about her experience in each of the three categories. This article doesn’t highlight blatant discrimination but there are some instances that are subtly discriminatory. One example is that a coworker mentioned that Human Resources should be able to support people in the company who are struggling with understanding transgender and thinking it is odd. As pointed out, this makes it seem as though those people’s inability to respect differences as acceptable. Another example I thought was interesting was the example of how when she entered a meeting with another organization, they all stared and had an awkward moment of silence yet Claire stated that after she got them focused back on business there weren’t any further issues.

Gender Identity and Workplace Discrimination: The Transgender Experience

Dietert & Dentice

The article explains the statistics about discrimination of trans individuals in a very gendered work place. Though the study was performed in the UK it I likely that similar countries such as Canada or the U.S. would have similar numbers. Interestingly, the numbers they explained were quite surprising. Post transition trans males actually reported being paid more than before their transition as well as being treated better by their male co-workers. Post transition trans females however were recorded to have a significant decrease in their salary as well as receiving negative attitudes and comments. One woman said she had people in her workplace call her an embarrassment and refuse to work with her.  

It also describes in detail how our society is very much focused on binary identification. Whether it’s poor or rich, male or female, white or not a person’s identity is limited to two choices. Because of this much of society views that deviating from this binary or even choosing the side of the binary opposite what society chooses for you to be wrong. This refusal to acknowledge identities that lay outside the binary limits and silences the expression of those individuals through discrimination.

A big part of transitioning is pronouns and they are a very important way for some in which they can know that others acknowledge their transition. Not having one’s pronouns used properly can be frustrating, offensive, and quite hurting. That is to say that sometimes people make mistakes but it is their making a big deal out of the mistakes that can be more harmful. And though someone might not be actively trying to discriminate, they refuse to work towards or make an effort to get pronouns right. The recounts of several trans males explain that some upper levels of management are too lazy to make an effort to make sure the employee is addressed using the proper pronouns or they actively deny it and make a point of denying them the right to be called their proper pronouns. Some supervisors also claim after telling employees not to come out as trans that it is simply for their own good, so that other employees are not upset.

Transgender Employment Discrimination

Kock & Bales

Disscussion of how transsexuals are not protected under title VII and provides an example of how this affects transsexuals. A woman, after returning from surgery, was discovered to be a transsexual by her employer and then fired. The case argued that sex was not a strict matter of one’s body or parts but also was influenced by psychological factors and one’s sexual identity. The first court to hear the case ruled that she was fired due to her transsexuality and found it to be unlawful under title VII. However, a second court later reversed the ruling and said that it was not protected because title VII does not include sexual identity and that Congress would not include person’s sexual identities different from their gender assigned at birth.

 The courts also have historically combined transsexuals with sexual orientation in the past despite the two being completely separate parts of one’s identity. As such though transsexuals earn a “protected classification” it fails to acknowledge the difference the two groups have and the difference problems they face, namely, definition of sex by the courts. Some have tried to find a way to manipulate the law such as a fire woman who returned to work acting feminine and changing her appearance. She was discriminated against and suspended for disobeying policy. She sued on the ground of sexual stereotyping, that they expected her to act a particular way because of what sex they identified her as and punished her for going against their expectations. The court denied her claim saying that because his real claim was being discriminated against because he was transsexual, she was not protected. This case was later reversed by a separate circuit court that ruled that the woman had argued enough evidence to support a sex stereotype case and that the Supreme Court set the precedent in Price Waterhouse in which they concluded gender discrimination is equivalent to sexual discrimination and therefore gender identity is protected under title VII. Despite this, many courts still do not interpret title VII as such.

 There are still a number of problems though. One is that a trans person arguing for a discrimination must have solid evidence or be able to isolate specific statements made by coworkers or supervisors, the claim has no basis because technically the trans identity is not protected by name under title VII. For example, if an employer or coworker fires, discredits, passes over for a promotion or generally discriminated an individual who has just come out as trans, the trans person must be able to provide a statement or other behavior from these other individuals that would suggest that their sexual identity is the reason for this treatment. Failure to do so means lack of evidence to the court and therefore no case can be made.