USA Today

[Leigh]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/2005-06-09-transgender-usat_x.htm

Transgender employees see changes in colleagues, too
By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY
David Rosen was one of the guys at work, a married father and a former wrestler who joined in the office football pool and joked with colleagues who'd swing by for the peanut M&Ms he always kept in a jar on his desk.

Then he became Donna Rose, and things changed. When he started to become a she — a process of changing gender with hormone treatment, electrolysis, breast augmentation, facial cosmetic surgery and sex-reassignment surgery — co-workers at his pharmacy benefits company walked by to gawk. Then they stayed away.

[4years]

Thank you Leigh that was quite interesting.
It is nice to see some of the big named companies playing fair.

[beth_finallyme]

Thanks Leigh,


I read this article in USA today, it is excellent especially because it is in a mainstream paper. the article was on the cover of the business section with large pictures, and continued on the next page as their "cover story".

I believe that we should support those corporations that support us. I wish i had a complete list of the 60 companies in the fortune 500 that have TG non discrimination policies. I will only buy Chevron gas from now on, there is no BP in this area. I believe that we should all make our choices of what companies to support by those that support us. I guess it is my background in motorsports that taught me what a powerful tool this is. Maybe we should start a thread, or have a wiki section for those companies that are gender friendly. Everyone could list companies they know about. We might have a section for those companies and institutions that are reported to have fired someone legally or not because of gender differences. I would never spend money with those companies. Our voices are small individually but we can roar together.

beth

[Leigh]

Use this to search for employers and their policies.

http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Search_the_Database&Template=/CustomSource/WorkNet/srch.cfm&searchtypeid=1&searchSubTypeID=1

[Sandi]

Donna Rose also has a great website though I have referred to it here at Susan's before in the past.


Sandi

[Terri-Gene]

The problem with employment is that it depends not only on companies, but the location one is in.  Even with the best of policies, one can be made to feel miserable at the most inopportune times.  Even if the job is "safeguarded" it may not be a place and situation under which one would really want to work.

There are many compainies with outstanding policies, my own included, Kaiser Permanente, and some of us even enjoy recognition and protection under the law, depending on city and state, but that doesn't stop what some people believe about us or change the fact that they can uphold the policy or law while still making their feelings known.

There is so much work to be done on this, with people, not policy or law, but such are necessary to provide the environment where more will stand forward and address the people situation by example and familiarity.

Terri