Are Your People Ops Gender-Affirming?
Trans employees discuss in a workplace meeting.
Every time I start a new job, I’m forced to have the same argument with HR when they ask for my ‘birth gender’ or my ‘biological sex’. They insist that it’s “because the health care insurance company requires it” or that “it’s out of my hands; this is how our system works.” Those words fly in the face of reality: I am legally a woman. I am biochemically a woman. Most importantly, I am a woman because I say I am a woman. The only people that need to know the sex I was assigned at birth are me and my doctor. Anything that doesn’t support that, anything that lessens the validity of my identity, diminishes my experience as an employee and diminishes the employer’s credibility as a place that is safe for minorities. It’s exhausting.
People of transgender experience often encounter bureaucratic obstacles that cisgender people rarely face, particularly when seeking gender-affirming services. It is crucial that we should strive for improvement in this area. To begin, let's reflect on the following questions when evaluating our own systems:
When asking for someone’s gender…
Do you use the terms ‘male’ and ‘female’? These are sex, not gender.
Do you allow for non-binary, ‘x’, or ‘prefer not to say’ options?
When gathering identifying information about a new hire…
Do you allow them to provide a preferred name?
Can that name be attached to all of their credentials, including email, Slack, or file directories, rather than their legal name?
When evaluating health insurance policies for your employees…
Do you ask the healthcare provider about their transgender health coverage?
Do you confirm that, at a bare minimum, it conforms to the WPATH Standards Of Care?
Do you ensure that life-saving, medically necessary gender affirming procedures are not excluded?
Do you ask a transgender person to evaluate the policy to ensure it is acceptable, and do you pay this person for their time?
When a transgender person changes their name or takes on a preferred name…
Do you make this process pain-free?
Do you make it as easy for them as you do for newly-married cisgender people who are changing their names?
It is understandable that cisgender people find it challenging on whether the policies they enforce and systems they depend on truly uphold gender-affirming principles. However, ignorance can’t be excused for long. It’s already difficult for transgender individuals to come out in the workplace. The fact remains is that your transgender employees and candidates have specialized needs that deserve acknowledgment and support. A great first step in this direction would be taking proactive measures to educate your team members on promoting inclusion starting with the appropriate usage of pronouns in the workplace.
How can I contribute to a gender-affirming work environment?
What you can do about this varies widely relative to your role in the organization.
If you are in People-Ops
When crafting your HR policies and selecting the tools to support those policies, think actively about your under-represented groups, including transgender people. Do not assume that transgender people are so in the minority that they are not your concern. Seek them out and ask them about their needs. Do not assume that you don’t have transgender individuals at your company just because you don’t know of any.
Examine the details of your health care policy with an eye toward these double standards. Does your policy cover post-mastectomy breast reconstruction, but call transgender breast augmentation “cosmetic?” Does it cover a prosthetic wig for women with alopecia but not for transgender women? Does it cover preemptive mastectomy for those at high risk of breast cancer, but deem trans-masculine mastectomy “cosmetic?” Don’t hide from these issues when you find them. They represent opportunities for improvement when selecting the following year’s policy. If your provider states that expansive transgender health care is not something they cover, ask them why not. It’s good to push. They will not change unless you do.
When selecting tools, ensure that they allow for preferred names, for they/them and neopronouns, for non-binary gender identities, and for easy changes to this information. Work with your IT department to ensure these policies are standardized.
Most importantly, and this is true of all of the minorities represented in your staff. Unless you are a member of that minority, do not assume that you understand their needs. Ask someone. Be open. Learn for yourself.
Take initiative and take this opportunity to explore our comprehensive employer’s guide on fostering support for transgender individuals in the workplace.
If you are NOT in People-Ops
Become an informed consumer by requesting the Summary Plan Document for your health care policy. It is a lengthy and tedious document, but it is the single source of truth regarding what the policy does and does not cover.
Armed with that information, engage your manager in a conversation about ways in which you believe the company can do better. Speak privately but ardently to your HR team. Lean on their insight into the political and bureaucratic structures in your organization. Learn who the decision makers are and the best ways to engage them. Larger companies often have affinity groups or employee resource groups that can be excellent resources for information and positive action.
Ultimately, when HR and its systems are unable to provide me with basic human rights in the workplace, I cannot work and live as my authentic self. It detracts from my safety at work. It makes me feel alienated, frustrated, angry, and despairing in equal measure. If I have the benefit of passing privilege*, that makes me afraid to disclose my transgender status. I have to wonder what I stand to lose. And if I don’t disclose, it makes me feel as though I cannot be myself, cannot be my gender, at work.
Take the initiative and take this opportunity to explore our comprehensive employer’s guide on fostering support for transgender individuals in the workplace.
* When transgender people so successfully perform gender that they are mistaken for cisgender, they are accorded a level of privilege that they would not otherwise have access to.
Change can begin with me but it can also begin with you. Raise these questions. Start the conversation. There is no better time now.
Begin your journey toward a more gender-affirming workplace by participating in our insightful lunch & learn program dedicated to LGTBQIA+ focus lunch & learn sessions and explore various lunch & learn topics that’ll contribute to fostering an environment of inclusivity that benefits all.
Schedule a chat with our team today!
