Exciting things are happening in Salt Lake City, Utah! Last night there was a panel specifically about employment discrimination based on gender identity and a proposed diversity bill. It received a fair amount of media coverage, like this article in the Salt Lake Tribune:
After losing her job, transgender Utahn fights workplace discrimination
link no longer available
It's refreshing to see that there's friendlier coverage of transgender people, even in such a conservative GOP state. The above coverage even ended with: "if you're an employer open to hiring transgender individuals" there's a link on their site to DiversityJobs.com!
Just 6 months ago the bills under the Common Ground Initiative were defeated, one by one. One of which included workplace protection based on gender identity. Low and behold, these actually weren't defeats. Like everything else, they're precedents for incremental, inevitable progress, acceptance, and protections.
It just gets slowed down a bit.
Just two years ago a Utah trans woman named Krystal Etsitty, who had worked as a bus driver for the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), was fired. With limited resources and a lot to fear, she stood up for herself. In Etsitty v. Utah Transit Authority, 2007 WL 2774160 (10th Cir. Sept. 20, 2007), the Tenth Circuit ruled that a transsexual is not protected by Title VII as a class and that this particular plaintiff could not establish "Price Waterhouse" gender non-conformity discrimination.
As mentioned in my blog post back in February,
It takes me by surprise some times, but progress is happening.
After losing her job, transgender Utahn fights workplace discrimination
Salt Lake City resident Candice Metzler wanted to let her work colleagues see the transition she already had begun in her personal life. Known to them as a man, Metzler wore mascara, eyeliner and white-tipped acrylic nails to a company barbecue. Read more >or this coverage from Fox 13:
It's refreshing to see that there's friendlier coverage of transgender people, even in such a conservative GOP state. The above coverage even ended with: "if you're an employer open to hiring transgender individuals" there's a link on their site to DiversityJobs.com!
Just 6 months ago the bills under the Common Ground Initiative were defeated, one by one. One of which included workplace protection based on gender identity. Low and behold, these actually weren't defeats. Like everything else, they're precedents for incremental, inevitable progress, acceptance, and protections.
It just gets slowed down a bit.
Just two years ago a Utah trans woman named Krystal Etsitty, who had worked as a bus driver for the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), was fired. With limited resources and a lot to fear, she stood up for herself. In Etsitty v. Utah Transit Authority, 2007 WL 2774160 (10th Cir. Sept. 20, 2007), the Tenth Circuit ruled that a transsexual is not protected by Title VII as a class and that this particular plaintiff could not establish "Price Waterhouse" gender non-conformity discrimination.
As mentioned in my blog post back in February,
Etsitty's trouble stemmed from her use of women's restrooms along her bus routes. Her supervisors claimed that she was fired due to their concern about the possibility of public concern and potential liability stemming from Etsitty's use of women's restrooms while retaining male genitalia (she couldn't afford or didn't desire genital reconstruction surgery, which is common amongst trans people. My blog post about this.) Nothing had actually happened. No complaints. No issues. Etsitty was a good worker. But, she was trans.And just two years later Candice Metzler, another Utah trans woman who was unjustly fired, has stood up with allies galore beside her and a diversity bill to boot.
It takes me by surprise some times, but progress is happening.
Candice came to speak to my Queer Studies class at SLCC. She's one of the people who pushed for SLCC to include a unisex restroom on the South City campus.
ReplyDeleteBoyd: She's awesome.
ReplyDelete