An estimated 20 per cent of transgender Ontarians surveyed are unemployed or on disability, while just over one-third are working full-time, according to a new Trans PULSE study, obtained exclusively by the Star, to be released on Monday.
Trans PULSE is a community-based research project investigating the social exclusion and discrimination on the health of trans people in Ontario. It is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
A previous 2010 study by Trans PULSE, indicated that 71 per cent of trans people in Ontario have post-secondary education, but about half earn $15,000 per year or less. That compares with an average income of $38,099 for Ontarians with post-secondary education.
This dramatic data spurred the researchers to investigate the challenges and discrimination faced by trans people in the workplace and when seeking employment. The surveys were completed with 433 trans people. They in turn surveyed other trans people in respondent-driven sampling, a methodology used to reach hidden populations.
“It’s very hard to obtain accurate figures for trans Ontarians as trans people are hard to access,” says Greta Bauer, co-investigator of the Trans PULSE study and assistant professor, Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
“The study reveals that while trans people face unique barriers to employment, there are no explicit laws to prevent trans people from employment discrimination in Ontario,” she said.
“Human rights protection for gender identity are implicitly covered under the grounds of sex or disability but not sexual orientation,” adds Bauer.
The study is a sobering snapshot of what trans people face in the workplace. But behind the data is a collection of painful experiences and stigma for people who breach gender norms.
Amanda Ryan is a male cross-dresser who has worked for the same company as a sales rep for the past 17 years. A year ago, she came out to her supervisor and general manager; while their reaction was supportive, they asked her not to discuss this with the rest of the staff.
When she returned from a recent holiday, there was a palpable change in the vibe at work. “I felt in the pit of my stomach that they knew,” she said of her co-workers. She felt compelled to come out to them, one of whom said, “I thought we weren’t supposed to discuss this.”
She has set up a meeting to talk to her superiors about the issue. “As someone who cross-dresses, I know that my work day will be male and I have the option to come home and change into a dress,” says Amanda.
Many employers use their personal discomfort with non-normative gender identities and expression as a way of gauging customer and co-worker reaction. The work environment can range from uncomfortable to toxic as co-workers’ behaviours and attitudes change towards their trans peer. Of the study’s respondents, 17 per cent say they have declined job offers due to a lack of a trans-positive work environment.
“It’s trite law that a prejudiced customer or co-worker preference is not a defence to a human rights complaint. Bottom line: employers can’t discriminate because of a person’s gender identity or expression,” says Nicole Nussbaum, a lawyer with a focus on transgender legal issues.
A lack of trans-inclusive policies creates barriers to employment and makes the prospect of coming out in the workplace extremely daunting. The study highlights that 13 per cent of trans people were dismissed based on the fact that they are trans, while 15 per cent were unsure if being trans was the cause of their dismissal.
Rachelle, a trans woman, who asked that her last name not be revealed, told her supervisor that she was planning to transition to become female. Her boss’s response that, “it would be best if you simply moved on,” completely stunned Rachelle, an I.T. manager.
“You’d have a hard time being accepted as a woman because we’re a conservative law firm,” Rachelle recalls her boss saying. “She said that people might make my life difficult at work.”
The study found that 25 per cent of trans Ontarians felt that “they passed as cisgender — they appear as non-trans — less than half of the time, leaving them vulnerable to harassment discrimination in the workplace.”
“We knew that there were huge problems with the trans community with employment but there was no data to support that. Consequently, most trans people are not going surprised by the results, but those that aren’t trans, I’m sure will be,” Bauer said.