A Common Problem

As I have said before it is very to find work when you are trans, oh yeah we have laws protecting us just like the laws protecting age discrimination in employment. The businesses know how to get around discrimination laws.

She Says No One Will Hire Her Because She’s Transgender. Now She Wants to Leave Idaho
Boise State Public Radio
By Brooklyn Ripema
January 15, 2019

On a cold December evening, about 100 people gathered in downtown Boise to learn more about Add the Words. The group advocates on behalf of LGBTQ folks, and is focused on adding the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act.

This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to change Idaho law. In 2015, lawmakers held a 20-hour hearing on the measure. But the bill was voted down in committee by the Republican majority. Since then, the measure has not gained traction, even though Democratic lawmakers continue to push for change.

Chelsea Gaona-Lincoln, one of the leaders of Add the Words, says she knows some people want protections for trans folks to be dropped from a potential bill.

“We’re not willing to do that. We’re not going to leave anybody behind, including our trans brothers and sisters and nonbinary family members,” she says. “So it has to be add all four words. All of the words, not two of the words, not some of the words — all of it.”

But it is like banging your head against the wall trying get pass the Republican wall of bigotry

When Erin Leach goes to a job interview,

 “Either you can see it right on the interviewer’s face, or there has been a few occasions where I was told that’s why they wouldn’t hire me, despite the fact that these were jobs I interviewed for in Boise,” Leach says.
[…]
Leach says she’s been applying for jobs related to her field of expertise with no luck. She’s also applied to work at grocery stores — jobs that require little to no experience. She’s starting to feel desperate.

But she says she won’t pursue legal action for violations of Boise’s law. To her, the city ordinance is “pointless” and isn’t enforced like it should be.

She’s right.

Non-discrimination laws are hard to enforce and the Supreme Court made it harder and it is not just us but all protected classes. Unless HR is totally stupid and comes right out and says “we don’t hire trans people” it is almost impossible to prove discrimination. It is easy for us to file a discrimination claim if we are employed there already and we have a good work history.*

A couple of years ago a CEO of a big insurance company that was planning on moving their headquarters to New York City said they were moving because they wanted to hire younger talent… which to me who in my sixties sounded definitely blatant age discrimination.

So why have non-discrimination laws?

Well I always have said that for good companies it is not necessary, for the companies who don’t give a darn it will not change their ways. If they get caught well it is just the price of doing business.

But for the majority companies they will follow the law.

*If you think the “company” is out to get you, keep a work diary of the discrimination. Get a notebook with numbered pages and track how the company is singling you out.