Transgender Protection in the Workplace - PART ONE

[Hazumu]

by Michelle Tsai, senior account supervisor for the corporate group in the New York office.

This is the first of a two-part post on equal protection for transgender employees in the workplace.

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Interestingly, this example of our shifting attitudes toward sex stereotypes (i.e. that women wear skirts and men wear pants) has become a factor again with regard to non-gender conformist individuals increasingly present in the workplace.  This group includes transgender men and women, people who are transitioning or have already transitioned to a different sex than they were assigned at birth; and intersex individuals, those born with genetic anomalies that can cause impaired development of secondary sex characteristics.  But this group also includes individuals who simply are more comfortable with challenging traditional sex stereotypes, such as men with long hair, or women who don't wear makeup.