Educational Articles

Lessons In Creating a Trans-Friendly Workspace

by Cillian Carter

In spite of the June 15, 2020 Supreme Court ruling that all LGBTQ+ people are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, working while trans can still be stressful and sometimes dangerous. While this ruling was a huge victory for the trans, intersex, and nonbinary communities, it does not change that for decades trans people have lived and worked in fear of being fired for being themselves. 

The ruling does affirm that discrimination on gender identity is wrong, but it does not remove discrimination from all work places, it just allows for trans people to sue, if they have the resources to do so (22% of LGBTQ people live in poverty in comparison to 16% of cisgendered, heterosexual people according to UCLA’s Williams Institute School of Law).

How can you help, you ask? Here is a quick list of steps you can take to make your business a safe environment for all your employees. 

Just Try

by Katie Sesti

TO THOSE WHO LOOK LIKE ME:

It's okay to be wrong. It's okay to not know. Just try.

During my lifetime, I was taught to be colorblind. To not see color. To tread lightly, very lightly, when considering discussing race. The possibility of mentioning skin tone and the differences it creates with those that didn't look like me was intensely taboo. Mostly because we were anxious and scared to offend. But regardless of how society was trying to mold me, I did see color. I noticed differences. But I also recognized more similarities than not.

Understanding Racism Part 1: 401 Years Later, we still don’t understand racism

by Heather Fleming

In 2019, we marked a grim anniversary: the 400-year anniversary of the start of slavery. That meant that we celebrated the 400-year anniversary of codified racism in the United States, as well as the development of racist ideologies that have continued to harm black and indigenous people and communities until this day. However, although we have lived with it for 401 years now and can easily identify overt racism, few people understand the subtler forms that racism takes, from covert racism to implicit bias to internalized oppression. In this way, it’s like our atmosphere: we breathe it in everyday, but many people could not tell you what it is comprised of other than oxygen. Right now, some people are struggling to breathe because of racism, but some are struggling because they are having to learn how to breathe without racism.