For most transgender and non-binary people, being misgendered—meaning being referred to with the wrong gender pronouns—is not a rare occurrence. But no matter how often it happens, it’s inevitably an uncomfortable, and can have lasting emotional effects. For many, professional settings—where there is pressure not to seem difficult or create tension with colleagues—can be one of the most frequent places where this happens.
“Being misgendered makes me feel absolutely invisible and disrespected,” says Imani, a 22-year-old non-binary person living and working in Brooklyn. “I’ve only ever felt safe being out at one job.” New York and California have passed strict laws that prohibit misgendering in the workplace and outline consequences for employees who repeatedly violate this protocol. But that level of protection is relatively rare—there are only 21 states that have even some form of legal protections for LGBTQ workers.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that discrimination on the basis of “sex” is illegal, and under the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice confirmed that “sex” should include gender identity—which would mean that repeated and intentional misgendering should qualify as illegal discrimination. Under the Trump Administration, however, the DOJ has pivoted its position, arguing that “sex” does not encompass gender. The Supreme Court will likely soon decide which definition is correct—and the conservative majority does not bode well for trans employee protections.
In an attempt to make the workplace safer for transgender employees, some offices across the country have independently implemented practices such as gender neutral bathrooms, gender sensitivity training, and name tags that include people’s preferred pronouns. Despite this, many transgender individuals continue to feel unsafe at work, where power dynamics often make it difficult for employees, especially ones who are lower-level, to speak out.
We asked seven trans and non-binary individuals to share how it feels to be misgendered at work, and how they deal with it.
Read the full article @ Vice
Image CC BY NC Ted Eytan
