Openly trans ESPN editor talks about coming out on the job
by Gretchen Rachel Blickensderfer
2013-12-16
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/ARTICLE.php?AID=45539"One of the greatest crises for transgender people in general is employment," ESPN writer/editor Christina Kahrl told an audience at an Egalite Chicago networking event for Advertising Professionals and Allies.
The evening—the first of its kind for the Chicago chapter of the Publicis Groupe LGBT network—was presented in partnership with the GLAAD Chicago Leadership Council and held at the Leo Burnett Room on December 12. Gay marketing professional Kevin Boyer was the interviewer for the program.
Kahrl is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America. In 1996, she co-founded Baseball Prospectus, a think tank that publishes analysis of the sport using statistics and is recognized as an industry thought leader. Her writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Salon and others.
She is an openly transgender woman. Since coming out in 2003, Kahrl has been active in both the transgender communities and the push for equality. She sits on the boards of GLAAD, Equality Illinois, the Trans Life Center at the Chicago House, the You Can Play Project and the Nike LGBT Sports Coalition. She worked to secure the Chicago City Council resolution supporting LGBT athletes and, in 2011, helped launch the Chicago Area Trans-Friendly Bathroom Initiative.
Kahrl said she hopes to encourage employers to view transgender employees as capable co-workers, mentors and leaders. "We can be as effective as anybody else," she said. "We can create this positive message and lead by example."
