When Is It Discrimination

One of the hardest things to prove is if it is discrimination; it might be so oblivious to us but it is so hard to prove. Prospective employers have so many ways to hide their discrimination when hiring.

Ban Was Lifted, but Transgender Recruits Still Can’t Join Up
New York Times
By Dave Philipps
July 5, 2018

Nicholas Bade showed up at an Air Force recruiting office on an icy morning in January, determined to be one of the first transgender recruits to enlist in the military.

He was in top shape, and had earned two martial arts black belts. He had already aced the military aptitude test, and organized the stack of medical records required to show he was stable and healthy enough to serve. So he expected to be called for basic training in a month, maybe two at the most.

Six months later, he’s still waiting. And so are nearly all other transgender recruits who have tried to join up since a federal court ordered the Trump administration not to ban them from the military.
[…]
Since then, scores have applied — but it appears almost none are being accepted.

Many trans people have applied for the military and not have been accepted or rejected… is it discrimination or is it just normal bureaucratic red-tape?

The applicants are being stalled or turned away at a time when some branches of the military face a shortage of recruits, and when recruiters have been ordered to work Saturdays to try to make up the shortfall.

“I’m now on round five of rejections,” said Mr. Bade, 38, a waiter and martial arts instructor who lives in Chicago. “Each time, they say they need even more medical information. My last one was a minor document from years ago.”

It is going to take another round of legal challenges to find out.

I ran a test department and that meant that I had to hire and fire employees. Twenty-five years and I ran the department and I knew the HR director and I knew that she wanted to hire the best employee for the job, period. That their race, color, sex, marital status, age, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity didn’t matter. It never came up… the only thing that she was interested in were they the best person for the job.

But what I did learn from those 25 years is to document everything; troubled employee… keep a record. I learned it so well that I tell trans people that if you think you are being discriminated against, keep a record of not only the incidents but also of your conversation with HR or your boss.

But it is not just the military and employers; it is what’s happening every day in our lives.

Yesterday I asked a man who mows the neighboring cottage lawn if he would do mine; he said he would call me back… no callback.

Did he forget? Does he have enough clients now and he doesn’t want a new customer? Or is it because I’m trans?

I probably will never know.

And that is the thing, we will never know the true reason unless they are stupid enough to come right out and say it is because I’m trans.