City and Private Sector Must Secure Jobs for Transgenders

On December 8 at the Duestche Bank building on Wall Street, actress Laverne Cox, activist Cece McDonald�and Queens-based organizer Lala Zannell joined First Lady Chirlane McCray for the Transgender Economic Empowerment Forum. The event featured a job fair with recruitment and employment resource tables. Participants stressed that trans New Yorkers need jobs, and it's the city and private sector's responsibility to make that happen.

In an article in DNAinfo.com, transwomen said that their rate of unemployment was twice that of the general population. It's even worse for trans women of color, said panelists.

Actress Laverne Cox remembered the years she spent being mistreated as a waitress, and McDonald noted how she and friends had been denied jobs they were overqualified for, based on their gender identity. McDonald said that being able to pass as feminine or masculine enough was a frequent problem.

"Because of me not being a 'passing' woman, [potential employers said] I would bring unnecessary attention to their establishment," she added.

Panelists said companies should create workplace training programs for all employees about the experience of trans people and establish clear consequences for "outing" or harassing a transgender colleague.

"The problem is not always the employer, it's also the staff," Zannell said, urging employers to have staff sign a contract so that if an employee harasses a trans colleague, that worker would face disciplinary action. "I've been sexually harassed at work. I've been outed at work."

The difficult in finding employment often drives transgender individuals to sex work, about which McDonald said, "You can't criminalize us or demonize us for that, because we have to survive."

Cox noted that many of the transwomen murdered this year were involved in some kind of street work, and were homeless.

A recent study funded by New York State found transgender New Yorkers were twice as likely to be unemployed and 140 percent more likely to be in poverty than others, regardless of whether or not they had a college degree.

Cox said "the private sector could be doing more" to address this, and suggested Deutsche Bank start a job-training program that focuses on transgender people.

Deutsche Bank vice president Jon Tilli, who co-chairs dbPride, their group for LGBT employees and allies, joked that Cox stole his thunder, announcing that Deutsche Bank would be doing just that.

"This really is a first for Wall Street," added Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation President Gary Hattem. "It's really a historic moment."

The Mayor's wife said that they had a "committed ally" in de Blasio, adding, "We want city government to reflect all the people we serve, and that means we need more transgender and gender non-conforming people on our team."