Trans Agenda: Unemployment in the Trans Community

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Nov 14

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An epidemic of extreme poverty has loomed over the trans community for far too long. Every day, viable employment opportunities are stripped from trans people across the country. We are seen as unfit to take on managerial roles, as if our gender identities inhibit our abilities to perform. We aren’t taken seriously when we apply for jobs, because of the lack of accurate, healthy representation in the media. We are seen as liabilities, burdens, risk factors, and more.

According to A Broken Bargain for Transgender Workers, transgender workers report unemployment at twice the rate of the population as a whole (14% vs. 7% at the time the workers were surveyed). More trans workers are being denied entry into the workplace due to preconceived notions held against us. Media channels blaspheme us, putting people under the impression that we are untrustworthy, deceitful, and inadequate. What’s more is that due to aggression from co-workers, or the inability to get promoted, some trans people are forced to leave their jobs, despite not having found another one.

It is a damning conundrum. A cycle of history’s making, it is the evidence used to deny our liberation. In a culture riddled with ignorance and fear, what is a trans person to do but succumb to the roles we are told we must take on?

Despite anti-discrimination laws, protections for trans people are challenged by workplace politics, suppression of worker potential, and denial of access to higher positions. In the newest case of transgender discrimination in the workplace, Aimee Stephens was fired from her job as a funeral director after coming out as a woman. In an attempt to be truthful with herself and the people she cared about, Stephens confessed her identity in a letter to her boss. She was fired under the notion that her identity violated the funeral home’s dress code. It can be so easy for an employer to justify their actions with hateful ideologies. The widespread, misconstrued ideas of what and who trans people are, ultimately lead to higher rates of unemployment. Before we can even get a foot in the door, we are blocked by the messaging of transphobic media depictions.

It comes as no surprise that there are loopholes in governmental protection of trans rights, but something’s gotta give! Stricter policies should be put in place to keep employers from acting prejudice. Insurance of wage increases and ability to move up in the company should be afforded to every worker. At the very least, trans people deserve to have opportunities to flourish and be amongst the greatest, no matter the field.

Watch as Culture Editor Iv Fischer breaks down this issue in this week’s Trans Agenda.

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Ivana Fischer is the Culture Editor of WUSSY and a film and media enthusiast who specializes in cultural studies. You can find her across all socials @iv.fischer

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Ivana Fischer

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