MetroWeekly.com – by Will O’Bryan
While Washington has some of the best civil-rights protections for transgender residents of any jurisdiction in the country — or the world, for that matter — those protections don’t always insulate the community from the realities of transphobia. Youth who veer from gender norms still face bullies and other added pressures that may drive them to drop out of school, and some potential employers may be eager to find excuses not to hire transgender people. It’s a disturbing cycle that leaves local groups such as HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) reporting that their female, sex-worker clients are much more likely to be trans women than biological females, according to Outreach Director Jeffrey Chubb.
It’s all the more reason to welcome the upcoming Transgender Career Day, Saturday, Aug. 18, sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs, Transgender Health Empowerment (THE), the Transgender Education Association (TEA), Different Avenues and other community-based organizations.