A New Life
By: Sabrina Nanji
October/November 2012
2012-10-15
http://www.ohscanada.com/news/a-new-life/1001766451/When Annette Elliott showed up for work on that first day, her co-workers were stupefied. They have always known her as Anthony, the father of four and a diligent air traffic controller at NAV Canada's tower in Winnipeg since 1994.
Elliott's transformation from a man to a woman may have been a shocking change for her fellow colleagues, but for Anthony — now Annette — her new skin signaled the beginning of the end of her inner turmoil and a manifestation of her true self.
However, coming out as transgendered in the workplace was as daunting as it was liberating; a journey that was, to say the least, littered with challenges.
Elliott is not alone in her struggle. On the whole, the transgender community faces significant barriers on the job. While lawmakers scramble to update human rights protections to safeguard the rights of transgendered employees, the duty to accommodate this group of workers has, inadvertently, fallen on the laps of employers.
