HRC Back Story

Spring has definitely arrived! I hope you all are getting a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather. It’s such a thrill to see flowers bloom after a long winter.

Our “7 Days to a Better Financial You” educational campaign came to a successful close on Tax Day, April 15th, in Atlanta. HRC Religion and Faith Program Director Harry Knox organized more than a dozen faith leaders at the Atlanta Regional Postal Facility in Hapeville, Georgia to call attention to the impact of unfair tax laws on their GLBT parishioners and speak out against the immorality of the injustices that result from a lack of marriage equality. The unfair treatment of lesbian and gay couples in their congregations does real harm to those couples and their families. For these clergy, it is a pastoral issue—an issue that demands a pastoral response including speaking out in the public square for equality and dignity for those for whom they love and care.

Their powerful display of support for legal and financial equality for the GLBT community was covered by local Atlanta television news affiliates and the Southern Voice. You can read the remarks they delivered here. One of the participants, Rev. Dr. Kathi Martin, also appeared as a guest on “The Agenda,” HRC’s XM Radio show. Read about that here. 

One of the highlights of our “7 Days” campaign was a virtual town hall which discussed, among other topics, best practices for developing equitable transgender employee policies. There is so much work that must be done around the creation of hospitable work environments for transgender employees, particularly those who transition while on the job, and HRC is committed to doing that hard work.

Next week, the HRC Foundation will release a new resource that aims to provide executives, managers, and staff, including human resource professionals, with best practices for transgender workplace inclusion. “Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace” covers topics such as appropriate terminology with which to discuss gender identity and expression, the creation of policies that protect transgender workers from discrimination, and the expansion of diversity programs to include gender identity and expression.

The HRC Workplace Project team has worked tirelessly to develop “Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace,” and their efforts are evident in this comprehensive and easy to use guide. The new guide recommends steps that employers can take to facilitate safe and healthy gender transitions for employees. Among these are the adoption of inclusive non-discrimination policies, removal of discriminatory health insurance exclusions, development of dress codes that avoid gender stereotypes and can be enforced consistently, the protection of employee privacy, and the incorporation of gender identity and expression into diversity training programs.

Until we have a majority of fair-minded lawmakers and a president who will make a fully-inclusive ENDA the law of the land, there will be an urgent need for employers to use resources like “Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace.” And even after ENDA is enacted, we’ll need this resource to eradicate the ignorance and fear that make it so difficult for workers to transition in the workplace.

I am so proud to include this new resource as part of all HRC’s efforts of behalf of transgender equality. HRC continues to pursue work across the organization to educate policy leaders and the public on the need for gender identity protections. Examples of this work include:

• The addition of two new transgender voices to the HRC Business Council;
• Creating and growing the Business Coalition for Workplace Fairness Coalition, made up of over 50 leading companies in Corporate America signing on in support of federal legislation for gender identity protections;
• Working with a coalition to develop hearings this spring in the U.S. House of Representatives around transgender discrimination in the workplace and the need for gender identity protections;
• A March Lobby Day during which over 200 HRC members gathered on Capitol Hill to meet with key Members of Congress urging support for a fully inclusive ENDA;
• Publishing “All Children All Families,” a guidebook to train adoption and foster parent agencies on placement of children with transgender parents and families, as well as gay, lesbian, and bisexual families;
• Developing a “Welcoming Schools” curriculum currently being implemented in three school districts across the country that helps educators understand the harms of gender stereotyping and ways to support gender variant students;
• Forthcoming Healthcare Equality Index which specifically rates hospitals on their sensitivity and training towards transgender patients and employees.
• Mobilizing communities of faith to do transgender education in the 40 targeted congressional districts.

This is but a sketch of all the work on transgender issues HRC has done and will continue to do. I will keep you all updated as we continue to roll out our groundbreaking efforts.

Have a great weekend!