How NOT to Onboard Your New Transgender Executive - by PIOW Board Chair, Cheryl Katon

Trans people deserve the opportunity to earn our jobs, and we deserve the dignity to perform our job to the best of our ability.

I just started a new C-level job, and relocated my family from Boston to Texas. As a trans person, this is a big deal for me and my new non-profit entity!

Now, I’m not an HR professional, but I can tell you firsthand the nuances of how trans people must navigate the employment universe. We must consider whether we disclose our background at every step. If so, how? When? Will we be tokenized? Or fully seen and respected?

I’m happy to share with my PIOW community that the move and new job are going great. They bring plenty of challenges, but they are the challenges I love! I am pleased to share that Austin has been welcoming, and my onboarding has been wonderful.

My transness is not part of my day-to-day work, yet it is fully and consistently embraced. My colleagues and board members are happy to engage in the discussion, yet they follow my lead. I bring it up only during social conversations or when it is relevant to the workplace – for example, how our brand could be impacted by having a trans person serve as CEO.

“My transness is not part of my day-to-day work, yet it is fully and consistently embraced.”

Recently, an acquaintance of mine - a friend of a friend - got a similarly exciting new leadership job. It’s a big promotion! She and I have a lot of similarities: Both of us are trans women, both high-level executives, both work in the non-profit or human services sector, both moved to blue cities for the new job, both reasonably cis passing and both interviewed and secured our new jobs during the last weeks of the election season. This meant that discussions about trans people were top of mind throughout the interview process.

While my welcome to the workplace has been accepting, supportive, and productive, my colleague Sarah is having a much tougher experience.

Like me, she was very straightforward about her trans identity during the interview process. She didn’t shrink away from it, in part because as an outward-facing leader, it was bound to come up at some point. She would rather have her customers, employer, colleagues and others know in advance. This proactive outing gives others the courtesy of making deliberate choices about how they want to interact with her, including giving them the option to avoid her in all non-work-related moments.

Despite her upfront demeanor, some of her colleagues have decided to create a real problem for her. These other employees are misgendering her, deadnaming her, trying to get other colleagues and customers to bully her, and even trying to change workplace policies.

“…misgendering… deadnaming… trying to get other colleagues and customers to bully her, and even trying to change workplace policies…”

To be honest, I’m not sure if her HR team is up to the challenge. I know she has good benefits, but they might not be ready for this type of conflict involving a trans employee. Her customers, on the other hand, already love her. She has decided to take the high road and not allow this to be an issue. Instead, she’s focusing on her customers and trying to do right by them.

This type of behavior would never fly in a typical workplace environment, especially those we work with at Pride in Our Workplace (PIOW), whose HR and DEI leaders come to us for help supporting trans employees. We often receive questions and provide trainings for companies as they deal with HR policies for staff members who transition on the job, staff members who have youth who are transitioning, or the challenges of supporting employees across a national network where some staff cannot receive their employee-sponsored health care benefits due to local laws.

Unfortunately, Sarah’s workplace environment is not “typical” – it is the U.S. House of Representatives, where she was elected in November as the first openly transgender person in Congress.

Her colleagues, including Nancy Mace from South Carolina and House Speaker Mike Johnson have “welcomed” their new colleague with policy proposals banning her (and all transgender people) from using some Capitol restrooms.

Broader legislation they have introduced would apply this discrimination to every federal building and federally funded school (USA Today). Marjorie Taylor Greene has even threatened her with violence.

What would your workplace do in this situation?

Most companies are capable and would handle this behavior from any employees immediately and effectively.

Even if only from a purely pragmatic standpoint, they would want to address it before Sarah filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency responsible for enforcing federal laws against workplace discrimination and harassment. In this case, the EEOC guidelines would reasonably be considered workplace-stated policy since Sarah and her colleagues work for the federal government.

It is crucial that congress follow the same EEOC standards of all US workplaces and provide Sarah the protections she deserves.

A fabricated crisis.

The targeted accusations, insults, and demonization from her colleagues have turned Sarah’s presence in the workplace into a fabricated crisis. I share our contrasting experiences to illustrate the absurdity of the situation.

My own experience with my supportive employer stands as a testament that the business community can move beyond this fearmongering towards an equitable work environment with dignity for all employees.

Sarah herself has exerted tremendous grace during this situation. Not all trans people have the bandwidth to endure this type of situation. If this were a typical workplace, many trans people would be grateful for the work and would navigate the situation, not out of grace but out of the necessity of gainful employment. Consider:

• Transgender workers are nearly four times more likely than the population as a whole to have a household income of under $10,000 (15% vs. 4%).
• Transgender workers report unemployment at twice the rate of the population as a whole (14% vs. 7%).
• More than four in 10 transgender people (44%) who are currently working are underemployed.

Source: Movement Advancement Project (MAP)

Based on my lived experience, I am proud of my new employer for fostering a culture and workplace environment that made me feel welcome. It’s also just good business! Our efforts to protect employees from harassment and discrimination have benefits that cascade throughout the organization, from talent acquisition to retention and productivity. A safe working environment benefits all.

Trans people deserve the opportunity to earn our jobs, and we deserve the dignity to perform our job to the best of our ability.

?“While at this moment in America’s history, hope sometimes feels hard to come by, we must never forget that we are the beneficiaries of seemingly impossible change.” – Sarah McBride (NBC News)

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Cheryl Katon (she/her) is the President and CEO of Emancipet, a nonprofit organization on a mission to make veterinary care affordable and accessible for everyone. A career nonprofit executive, Cheryl has held leadership roles at organizations including Pride in Our Workplace (PIOW), Fenway Health, and the Boy Scouts of America.

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