Waste!

Waste is defined as rubbish, trash, garbage, refuse, junk or other discarded materials by society. Waste is a subjective concept because items that some people discard may have value to others. Human waste is defined as most people as feces which is a nice term for shit. Waste in my scheme of things is the failure of society, through its organizations and entities, to hire or retain transgendered individuals who are out and transitioning or have transitioned merely because of misconceptions and biases which plagued our society. Far too many of my brothers and sisters in the transgendered community, myself included, are treated accordingly by society resulting in one of the highest rates of unemployment or underemployment anywhere in this country. The economy is already in the crapper and unemployment is rampant and when combined with the pervasive and insidious discrimination and prejudices against the transgendered community leaves so many of my brothers and sisters out of work and holding on by threads which get thinner by the day sometimes.

Now I do not mean to contend that my sisters and brothers in the L, G or B communities do not face discrimination in the workplace because they do. However, I think it is also true that many times the L, G or B can be concealed from current or perspective employers who care less and less about what you do after work and who you sleep with each night than they do about things which affect their workplace directly such as a transition of a transgendered person or how hiring transgendered person could be in their mind disruptive to their workforce and that is a major concern of organizations. Let’s face it you can come out as gay or lesbian and not really have to tell your coworkers if you don’t want to and keep the matter private which is your right. Try keeping the fact you are transgendered and transitioning a secret from your employer or its employees. When one is gay or lesbian their physical anatomy and appearance do not change much if at all. However, when one comes out on the workforce as transgendered and goes from being Kathy to being Karl or from being Tom to being Tina it is just a wee bit hard to hide that folks! The employer knows it is looking at time off for surgeries and treatment and headache of questions from other employees – not the least of these is the dreaded “where is so and so going to go to bathroom?”

Additionally, just because one is fully transitioned with all the surgeries and legalities does not make it easier when one is looking for work. I am searching for a new career and have been going to job fairs, applying for positions, sending out resumes and cover letters and filling out job profiles and applications on line. Two of the applications and online profiles ask “whether I have ever gone by another name or had a name change” Hmmmm…let's see….think they may notice that the old name was a male one and vastly different from my true name Melissa? Gees…a six year old can pick that one out- much less a HR person. I am not even to the interview process and here I am outing myself. It’s not the fact I am ashamed of who I am as a person but I know there are many out there who think I should be and I have already laid in their lap a reason not to hire me from the mere profile alone. That my friend is also a bunch of feces!

I meet so many talented transgendered people in my interactions with others through conferences and lobbying efforts or group meetings and the stories I hear are the same. Most of the people I meet are either working part time jobs that do not come near their qualifications. Others work as self- employed individuals struggling to keep their small businesses afloat and many are simply unemployed. It is estimated that unemployment in the “out” transgendered community is running somewhere around 50-60% and even higher. I have met so many out of work but talented computer techs, chefs, teachers, designers, and other professionals I cannot even count them! Many transgendered people I know lost their jobs when they came out and told people who they really were as people. My friend Teri was told that if she transitioned she would be terminated. Another person I know was offered a raise and new position until he came out and transitioned and in six months he went from being highly regarded for promotion as woman but when he transitioned to a man he ended up fired. My friend Debbie was terminated from her franchise dealership for selling log homes when she transitioned because the company felt I guess a transgendered woman could not sell them. Again since transgendered people when they come out and transition cannot hide the fact they are transgendered the ramifications in employment losses and difficulty in finding new work become an all too common scenario. This is such a waste of such talented people all for the reason that society cannot deal with the changing of outward genders even if it is to match the inner one that has been there all the life.

I have heard that the younger members of the transgendered community are a bit tired of all the “drama” of the older transgendered people. Well if I had come out as a teenager and my parents got me on hormones before I left for college and I had studied and earned my degrees in my true gender I would not be as worried about finding work. Transitioning before your mid twenties pretty much ensures you have not built much of a life as the person in the wrong gender. Your college and employment records would only reflect the true identity. Older transgendered people do not have that luxury. We built a life in the wrong gender. Our employment history is riddled with the old life. When potential employers start researching my background they will find another entity besides Melissa Alexander. I know my old law firm will do so because the person who is in charge of such information is a very macho, man’s man ex- military type guy. The number of “he’s” coming forth could not be counted on two hands. God knows what the transcripts from college will look like even though I have notified them and received new degrees from them with my proper name on them. I cannot escape that old life! Again I am not ashamed of w\ho I am- it’s just I am tired of having thrown up against me as I now live the life I was suppose to live all my life. My life is now and in the future but unfortunately it is my past that stands in the way. If one does not have much past because they are very young then they have little which can be used against them in the future.

What bothers me the most in all this is so much wasting of talent that many of my brothers and sisters can offer society if those in the transgendered community are given a chance without the jagged past thrown up in their faces. If employers will look beyond that history and consider that talent when it comes time to hire, promote and not terminate that employment because of the disclosure of the truth as to one’s identity, then the waste of human resources can begin to end and more healing can take place in the transgendered community and maybe a little less drama in this community as well. So many of us have already paid the price when it comes to loss of friends and family and resources which has hurt us emotionally we should be able to keep some dignity in maintaining work, finding new work for our talents and more enjoyment of the new life in the right gender. I know that the passage of the ENDA legislation and enactment of HB 176 in Ohio would go a long way in making this happen. Furthermore, repeal of the intrusive federal acts that violate everyone’s civil liberties and out our past lives would also help in this regard. Some day we may not talk about this absurdly high unemployment rate in our community and we can maybe even talk about the great things transgendered people are doing in society when the waste of talent has ended. Until then, the loss of such talent in society by members our community can only be simply classified as a waste and the pervasive discrimination faced in the same as “human waste!”

Pride

June is the traditional month to celebrate Pride in the LGBTQ community across the country. It is a time of celebration of being proud of who we are as people in a society that still reluctantly only somewhat tolerates our presence in it and to reflect back to the time when the infamous Stonewall riots took place in rebellion to the tactics and tyranny imposed by some on the LGBTQ community. I view Pride in this manner but also view it in even larger perspectives as well. Two years ago I proffered a blog entitled “The Pursuit of Happiness and the Puritans” involving an examination of the strife for rights and dignity in the LGBTQ community in the pursuit of our happiness against the backdrop of society and its very powerful puritanical influences which have shaped our society and which run many times contrary to the concepts of happiness, liberty, freedoms and enjoyment of life. These influences which have been around for hundreds of years in this country still impact our society even today. It is a particularly good read if you have not already done so and significantly important in light of the recent conclusion of Pride month and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend.
President Obama began the month with a Pride proclamation which I guess was significant in that I do not recall any other President offering the same. However, it will take more than a proclamation to appease me for sure. He has promised to sign the Hate Crimes bill and ENDA legislation once these important pieces of law reach his desk …….but in the same breath- I do not see him pushing these bills through and lobbying for them as a leader who understands the need for dignity, freedom and opportunities as others in society have because he was denied them in his own life time and that of his ancestors. You can stimulate the economy all you want and I am not saying it is not important to do so and he did inherit a mess in Iraq created by the incompetency and blindness of his predecessor. However, at the same time, ensuring rights and dignity for all human beings and protecting those who have been left unprotected ought really to be the most important idea being worked on for who cares if more jobs appear or health care is expanded if you still can’t get a job because of discrimination and health care requires having that job to pay for it or you are still the subject of violence in your everyday life.
While the wheels of progress on the federal front move slowly, they are I guess moving forward far more than we have seen in recent years under George’s reign of terror. The state of Ohio which is now my home has been struggling as well to move forward HB176 which will end discrimination in housing, employment, lending and public accommodation based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is not the first time the bill has been proposed and it is awaiting a stalled vote in the House where there is a good chance of it passing but a very hostile Senate controlled by the party opposite the House and Governor’s office is not going to jump up and down in support of this important piece of legislation. The bill faces stiff opposition by the religious extreme right (direct decentdants if I have ever seen it of those Puritans) The Governor has promised to sign the bill IF it gets to his desk but again I do not see him lobbying for this bill and sometimes it is easy to say you will support the legislation of you know that politically it will never reach the desk because of a hostile Senate. How many years will those of us in the LGBTQ community have to wait before this dignity and freedom is bestowed upon us in our pursuit of happiness?
Pride is also a time to examine one’s self and our pride in who we are and what others like us have accomplished. I am a transgendered woman and I look out there for leadership and accomplishments of others like me. It is not that I am unhappy with the gains of my brothers and sisters in the L, G or B communities or the accomplishments of many of my brothers in the transmen community and in fact I admire them deeply! However, I sometimes get the impression that transwomen are picking up the rear in such gains and accomplishments. For example, while I admire Mara in her leadership of NCTE, her remaining staff members are mostly transmen and the first two openly transgendered people to serve as Congressional aides on the Hill are transmen. Yet- I see so many of my sisters having trouble finding work and very few of us if any in organizations that work for transgendered rights and equality in general. I admire so much the work that Equality Ohio does in fighting for rights and dignity yet I do not believe a single staff person there is transgendered much less a transwomen. Let’s not even talk about the HRC which has no transgendered people on staff locally and nationally has no transgendered people on its board and I still remember two years ago when the group sold me and others in our community down the drain on ENDA! Where are the role models for me as a transwoman and where is the involvement of transgendered people in organizations that fight for our rights? Many talented people in the transgendered community do not have their talents recognized and again, as a transwomen, I still am looking for my leaders and role models.
The Columbus Pride festival was a huge success in 2009. More people came out for the festival and parade this year than any time in history with estimates hovering around 200,000 people. I enjoyed marching in the parade and demonstrating my pride in being who I am as a human being in society. I felt free to be who I am and always have been and lets others know I am proud to be a transwoman and member of the LGBTQ community (I actually claim a couple letters there). The weather was pretty good and everyone attending had a wonderful time and the large turnout was a sign of slowly changing times for our communities. However, I will be honest in saying more progress is needed in many different directions in our state, our nation and society if we are all to be free of hatred and discrimination and able to pursue our happiness in life. To the extent I am so able I willing to continue the fight for such rights and dignity and to build that happiness in my life and the lives of others here with me and in the future generations to come. For that is what Pride is all about in the struggle of the LGBTQ community! Happy Pride and Happy Fourth of July!