To the Editor:

As a transgender woman working for a large Connecticut corporation, I know that employment policies that can provide a safe and respectful workplace benefits everyone.

After 15 years at my job as a production planner for a Fortune 500 company here in Connecticut, I was afraid to tell my company's Human Resources Director about my plans to express my true gender identity. I was worried, but I was lucky. At the time of my transition in November 2007 my employer was one of the few companies in Connecticut that had already developed and implemented inclusive employment policies and practices for transgender workers. I am so grateful that my employer understood that my job performance had everything to do with my qualifications and experience, rather than my gender expression.

But in Connecticut, not being fired for being transgender is still a matter of luck. A current bill that the Connecticut Legislature is considering would make it a matter of law. "An Act Concerning Discrimination" is designed to protect those of us who can still be fired from our jobs, evicted from our homes, and denied access to public accommodations--simply because of the way in which we express our gender identity. It would achieve this by simply adding the phrase "gender identity or expression" to Connecticut's existing non-discrimination laws.

This is important because not everyone is as lucky as I have been. Sadly, I have known many transgender people who have lost their jobs. Here in Connecticut, I know of two transgender people who were fired because of their gender expression—one worked in a machine shop and another worked at a church. A third was a manager of a security company. It was tragic in all three cases, since each had received high marks on their job performances and were valued in their respective companies, yet they suddenly became unvalued and expendable.

Eliminating discrimination in the workplace helps ensure the hiring and retention of well-qualified employees. After all, all we want to do is be able to go to work and support ourselves and our loved ones and to pursue our dreams just like everyone else.

The number of businesses that protect transgender employees from discrimination is growing. A 2008 report published by the Human Rights Campaign, said that 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies now have protections based on gender identity, compared to only 1 percent in 2000. Several leading Connecticut businesses such as Aetna, Pitney Bowes, Yale University, The Hartford, and Xerox have included gender identity in their non-discrimination policies.

It is time Connecticut joins thirteen other states that already prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals. If passed, the law would give the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities the authority to investigate complaints of discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression, just like they already do for discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, or sexual orientation.

I urge the Connecticut legislature to pass this bill.

Deja Greenlaw

We want to hear from you!

If you have a comment or suggestion, or just want to sound off on an issue, let us know. E-mail keepintouch@metroline-online.com. Please keep submissions to under 500 words; letters may be edited for clarity, length or grammar.