So I finally bit the bullet and talked to my HR person, not only did that actually go very smoothly but she actually offered to let me write the companies policy for the inclusion of gender identity as a protected group. I'm not much of a secretary, despite having done that job for several years, but my techie mind thinks it would be best to fall back on the age old adage and "Keep it simple, stupid." Just slip it in with the rest so that it now reads something like ****** does not discriminate based on sex, race, sexual orientation or gender identity. Thoughts?
That is absolutely the right way to approach writing such a policy if your employer doesn't have one already. Gender identity is not "special". Everyone has a gender identity. Just like everyone has a race or sexual orientation (even if mixed). Enjoy this opportunity.
That sounds like a plan to me. How should I go about broaching the topic with my coworkers? It's always so awkward and embarassing to bring the topic up in the first place, I'm not sure how would be best to go about it....
Here's a plan you might like: Go to government HR websites - governments by and large have already done such a policy. You can use them to cut and paste to your hearts delight to create a draft for you to fan out for feedback after getting a quick look-see by HR. HTH