House Subcommittee Holds First Hearing on Transgender Discrimination
Feature Story by David Schraub - 7/2/2008
The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions broke new ground June 26 with the first ever Congressional hearing on discrimination against transgender people in the workplace.
In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Rob Andrews, D. N.J., said that the hearing was "simply a first step in identifying the problem of workplace discrimination against transgender Americans."
"Workplace discrimination against a particular group of people is morally unacceptable, and conflicts with the principles we hold sacred in our society. Furthermore, workplace discrimination, unchecked, harms our economy both domestically and globally," said Chairman Andrews.
The testimony of many of the witnesses demonstrated, however, that discrimination against transgender people often prevents that ideal from meeting reality.
Diane Schroer, a transgender woman and retired U.S. Army colonel, described how she lost her first job after retiring from the military. A former Special Forces operative who said the military invested millions of dollars to train her on counter-insurgency operations, Schroer applied for and received a job at the Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, where she could use that knowledge..
Knowing she would soon transition from living as a male to living as a female, Schroer decided to tell her new boss that she would be transitioning and would like to be called Diane. Within 24 hours, she suddenly became "not a good fit," and the Library revoked the job offer.
Other witnesses described how they and their friends often faced harassment, retaliation, or even violence from their employers due to their transgendered status. Diego Sanchez of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts described himself as "an honest person who could be honest about everything except myself," as he struggled to present his gender identity in an often-hostile world.
All the witnesses representing the transgender community stressed the symbolic importance of the hearing itself. Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights described the historic event as a "quantum leap" for educating the public on transgender discrimination, and Sanchez stressed the role that members of Congress play as community leaders who could help "make it safe" for transgendered people to advocate for their rights openly.
Two witnesses focused on the interests of the business community. Bill Hendrix, chair of Gays, Lesbians, and Allies at Dow (GLAD), an employee affinity group at Dow Chemical Company, spoke of his employer's commitment to inclusion, noting that in a shrinking talent pool, American companies cannot afford to exclude anyone.
He said that transgender-inclusive policies have at least two benefits: retaining talented transgender employees, but also attracting younger employees who see strong anti-discrimination policies as a litmus test for the type of company they want to work for.
J.C. Miller, an attorney specializing in labor litigation, agreed that strong anti-discrimination policies were in the interest of the business community. She emphasized the need for clear language in legislation that impacts the workplace, noting that most small businesses do not have a large human resource staff to sort through complicated guidelines and regulations.
