Discrimination Of Trans People In The Workplace

Matthew Fields

Professor Farr

English 101

7 April 2017

Discrimination of Trans People in the Workplace

There are over 1 million transgendered people in America, almost all of whom are a part of our nation’s strong workforce. Trans do not always wish to be defined by the categories of ‘man’ or ‘woman,’ which is why they prefer the term ‘trans’ instead of ‘transgender.’ Many do not identify as a gender at all and request that they are referred to with gender-neutral pronouns such as ‘they.’ There is nothing wrong with being different and being oneself; however, some people are unable to respect one another which often causes conflict in the workplace. Being trans has no effect on work performance or intelligence; however, this minority group

Sawyer et al. discuss several court cases pertaining to trans people who had not been treated fairly in the workplace due to the fact that they do not carry typical gender characteristics. This restricts many trans people from working their way up the corporate ladder because people see their lifestyle as too unprofessional and odd to be in a leadership position. Many of these trans people have reported decreased earnings post-transition. Employers often feel hesitant to promote trans people because they do not always carry the same gender characteristics as the average heterosexual man or women have. According to Katina B. Sawyer et al., trans women also have high odds of getting a lower pay post-transition than men; “…trans men reported that approximately a 10% increased earnings I the same job post-transition, whereas trans women reported approximately a 30% decrease in earnings post-transition.” This is a very interesting statistic that shows that trans women are getting paid drastically less than what they were getting paid before their transition which is likely due to human resources discriminating against trans women people because they don’t value them as much as non-trans

I strongly support the trans community and have an immense amount of respect for them due to how their everyday lives are often more complicated. It has given me a far greater understanding of the struggles that the trans community has that aren’t always taken seriously. Anytime someone is different than the average person they have the potential to be a target for harassment regardless of whether or not they have done something wrong. People just make up trivial excuses as a rationale for their transphobia. In order for change to happen, one must actively prevent and stop discrimination when It comes about and always keep in mind that everyone is equal and that respect is key in any environment. Trans people do not cause a disturbance in the workplace; transphobic people are the only ones to start conflict and promote