Berkeley set to offer sex-change employee benefit

[Shana A]

Berkeley set to offer sex-change employee benefit

Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle January 18, 2011 04:00 AM

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F01%2F17%2FBA1P1HA3JL.DTL

While other cities are slashing employee benefits, Berkeley is slated to add one more: paying for sex-change operations.

The City Council is poised to vote tonight to set aside $20,000 annually for city workers' gender-reassignment surgery. The procedure is not covered by the city's two health insurance providers, Kaiser and Health Net.

"We offer all kinds of benefits to our employees. This brings our benefits in line with what's just and fair for the transgender community," said City Councilman Darryl Moore, who originally proposed the idea in 2007.