Tag Archives: Transgender

The Nightmare Continues – Five Impacts of North Carolina’s Infamous HB2

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Recently, the US court of appeals sided with trans teen Gavin Grimm that he may use the restroom corresponding to his gender identity in his high school

Recently, the US court of appeals sided with trans teen Gavin Grimm that he may use the restroom corresponding to his gender identity in his high school

As a workplace diversity consultant, with a specialty in LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender), and working with multiple businesses and organizations across North Carolina, I am deeply entrenched in our infamous anti-LGBT HB2 law passed earlier this year. Though it has multiple components (link to the actual bill), the one part that has grabbed the most attention is the provision that transgender individuals must use the restroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates in public facilities.

I have previously written two blogs about this bill
• “Why do we all need someone to hate on? … and now in North Carolina, it’s transgender people” on how I believe it is politics of hate and division which motivated HB2.
• “North Carolina’s HB2 – don’t boycott us, Cyndi Lauper-ize us!” which provides an alternative to boycotting our state.

Now that the law has been on the books for a while, I am following up with these “Five Impacts of HB2.” The first two are focused on broad economic impact and the final three are focused on various personal impacts.

1. Negative Business Impact: North Carolina has lost millions of dollars of revenue and thousands of jobs as various entertainment and sports events have been moved out of state, and various planned corporate expansions into North Carolina have been cancelled.

2. Impact on talent recruitment: I have heard from several of my clients that they are having a far more difficult time recruiting top talent for key positions, including enticing people to take internal transfers from other states. North Carolina is now viewed by many professionals as a “backward bigoted anti-diversity” state that they do not want to live nor raise a family in.

3. Overall safety and self-esteem of transgender individuals. This state law that singles out transgender people as “abnormal” and “not fit to use the bathroom of their gender” both stigmatizes transgender individuals as well as making them an increased target of hate crimes and ridicule. In addition, it diverts law enforcement from more pressing issues and increases the chances of vigilantism and violence.

4. Impact on transgender children. With a higher number of high profile transgender people “coming out” and more acceptance of transgender people in corporate America, more children are feeling safer about coming out to their parents and getting the support to live in their true gender. However, now in NC schools they are singled out in terms of restroom and locker room usage, and this undue attention also opens them up for additional schoolyard bullying.

Cisgender people (like female cancer survivors who lost their hair) my now be getting questioned about their rest room usage.

Cisgender people (like female cancer survivors who lost their hair) my now be getting questioned about their rest room usage.

5. Impact on cisgender* people who may appear “gender non-conforming,” particularly “butch-looking” women or gender ambiguous people. For example, this law may make it very uncomfortable for a female cancer survivor who has a mastectomy and lost her hair who uses the women’s room and has her gender questioned.

 

This horrific law has caused so much harm at some many different levels, immediate and total repeal is truly the only reasonable option. And even with that, it may still take years for state economic and personal psychological harm to be reversed.

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Cisgender* – refers to people who have no issue expressing their gender in the typical manner of someone born into that gender. Cisgender is to transgender as Straight (or heterosexual) is to gay

Take my transgender diversity 12 question self assessment to see if you organization is truly supporting transgender employees and clients.

I have added a new transgender consultant, Elaine Martin (link to the announcement) to assist me in providing transgender diversity workplace training, policy development and program management. Please contact me at [email protected] or 919-787-7315 to discuss how we can assist your organization around transgender diversity.

New Consultant Joining Total Engagement Consulting to Assist with Transgender Diversity

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Elaine Martin is joining Total Engagement Consulting to assist with work in the transgender diversity area

Elaine Martin is joining Total Engagement Consulting to assist with work in the transgender diversity area

Over the past few years, there has been a tremendous growth in the business diversity field for a deeper understanding of transgender individuals and how to best support transgender employees in the workplace. I am very pleased to announce that Elaine Martin is joining the Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer team as a part-time consultant on call to assist my clients in this key area.

Ms. Martin frequently speaks on a variety of trans related topics to provide deeper understanding of and support for transgender people. Among them are:
• Transgender 101
• How to Gain Support from Your Spouse and Family
• Trans People … Everything you were afraid to know, but wanted to ask
• Transitioning in the Work Place (augmenting my deep expertise in HR policies and practices to support transgender employees)

Ms. Martin will be available to speak on these topics as well as customizations for your audience, as a solo consultant, as well as team teaching longer workshops with me. She will also be an ideal resource for your enterprise to provide 1-on-1 coaching to assist your employees in transitioning professionally in your workplace.

Ms. Martin believes that the most important step in activism is “showing up.” This is particularly true for transgender people because so few people have ever known or met a transgender person. Familiarity with people different from themselves is very often the key to understanding, respect and support.

With a BA in Psychology and an MBA in Finance, Ms. Martin has a robust professional resume which positions her as an ideal consultant in the workplace arena, including training of senior executive teams. In addition to owning and running her own businesses and being a commercial pilot, she worked in the banking industry as a senior vice president and executive vice president responsible for teams of up to 1,000 people. Positions included responsibility for all operations, IT, lending operations, corporate marketing, government relations, human resources, product development and more.

Within the community, Ms. Martin has served on numerous boards, including most recently as the Board Chair of Equality North Carolina from 2012 – 2014. She is now on the board of the Raleigh Business and Professional Network, which is an affiliate chapter of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Martin is Total Engagement Consulting’s second “consultant on call” team member, and can be contacted at [email protected]. Elsa Maria Jimenez-Salgado (link to info about her) remains part of the Total Engagement Consulting team with a focus on providing bilingual consulting services including diversity training for clients requiring services in Spanish.