In this episode of DEI Minute, host Jamey Applegate, senior director of DEI at Equity at Work, delves into the significance of supporting transgender individuals in the workplace. The episode begins by establishing foundational definitions related to gender identity, gender expression, and the gender transition process. Applegate underscores the importance of understanding these terms to foster a supportive environment where everyone can truly be themselves and thrive professionally. Acknowledging the political and controversial nature of the topic, Applegate emphasizes the core aim of ensuring success and authenticity for all employees.

Providing practical guidance, Applegate outlines five ways to support transgender individuals in professional settings. These include using correct names and pronouns, being an active ally, maintaining professionalism by avoiding invasive questions, advocating for inclusive policies, and engaging in ongoing professional development. The episode concludes by reinforcing the necessity of creating inclusive workplaces and offering assistance in implementing these practices. The discussion is aimed at both leaders looking to initiate or sustain DEI efforts and any individual committed to fostering equality and respect in their organization.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Definitions of gender identity, gender expression, and gender transition
• Importance of using correct names and pronouns
• The role of an ally in supporting transgender coworkers
• Professionalism in respecting privacy and avoiding invasive questions
• Advocacy for inclusive policies and practices within organizations
• The value of professional development in understanding and supporting the transgender community

I'm Jamie Applegate, senior director of DEI at Equity at Work and this is your DEI Minute, your go to podcast for leaders looking to navigate the ever evolving landscape of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Whether you're just starting out with DEI or looking to sustain your long term successes, each episode will provide you with the actions you can take to move DEI forward at your organization, all in fifteen minutes or less. Join us every other week as we break through the noise and help you do DEI right. Let's get to it. Today, we're gonna talk about how to support transgender individuals in the workplace. But before we do that, I want to start off with just some definitions so that we're all on the same page around gender, gender identity, gender expression, and gender transition. This topic can be very controversial. A lot of people have a lot of thoughts about it.

It's become very political, and I just wanna ground us in that. Our work right now in this podcast episode is about supporting transgender individuals in the workplace, and it's part of the larger goal of ensuring that everyone who shows up is able to be successful. That's what we care about. Someone can show up as their true authentic self and be successful in the workplace. And so I wanna ground us in some definitions and then give you five tips for how to support transgender individuals in the workplace. So when we talk about gender identity, that is a person's concept of themselves as male, as female, as a blend of both male and female, or as being neither male nor female. So some terms you may have heard, cisgender. Cisgender simply means that a person's gender identity aligns with their sex at birth.

So for me, I am a cisgender male because I was born and my sex at birth was male, and I currently identify as a male. Non binary means a person's gender identity and or expression exists outside of the male female binary. They do not feel male or entirely male. They do not feel female or entirely female. They feel maybe both or maybe neither. And then transgender means a person's gender identity and or expression is different from their sex at birth. So a person who is born and their sex at birth is male and then they identify as female, they are a transgender female. And a person who is born and their sex at birth is female, but they identify as male, then they are a transgender male.

That's gender identity. Gender expression is the external appearance of one's gender identity, including behaviors, clothing, body characteristics, and voice. So the three phrases in there are androgynous, feminine, and masculine. So androgynous means that it is either both male and female or it is of indeterminate sex. Feminine means there are qualities or appearance that are traditionally associated with women or girls, and masculine is qualities or an appearance that traditionally is associated with men or boys. And finally, we have gender transition. So gender transition is the process by which people strive to more closely align their internal understanding of their gender with their outward appearance. So a social transition means making changes to one's gender expression, including using a new name, going by pronouns that do not match their sex at birth, and changing their physical appearance and clothing choices.

A legal transition is going through the process of legally changing one's name and or gender on identity documents. So I'm thinking about a driver's license or a social security card or, a state identification card or a passport. And then a medical transition is taking hormones prescribed by a medical professional and or undergoing surgeries to affirm one's gender. And that's the gender transition process. So it could be social. It could be legal. It could be medical. The transition process can include just a social transition.

It can also include a legal transition. It can also include medical condition. It can include any combination of those three sort of subtypes of transitioning. But a key thing to remember is that some transgender people may choose to transition socially, medically, and or legally, but not all transgender people will go through every step. There is no hard and fast rule as to what constitutes a person being transgender. Being transgender is not dependent upon medical procedures or legal name changes. Just wanna be very clear on that. Being transgender is simply a person saying, I am transgender, and we are there to trust them.

So now how to support transgender individuals in the workplace. There are five key things to remember that can help you support transgender folks in the workplace. Number one, names and pronouns. Use each person's stated name and pronouns. Share your pronouns when introducing yourself and in digital signature. So for instance, on your email, on Zoom, on Teams, or LinkedIn, and encourage teammates to do the same. If a person says that their name is x and they say that their pronouns are they them, use that name. Don't use their previous name.

Don't use maybe the previous pronouns that you've known them by. What somebody says they want to be referred to as, do that. It's about respect and care. Number two, be an ally. Ask transgender employees how you can best support them. Don't make assumptions. Don't assume you know how to best support them. Don't speak for them.

Just ask ask them how you can support them and offer assistance as they navigate workplace systems. Workplaces often include a lot of bureaucracy around things like changing names or getting a new badge or getting a new work photo or notifying clients that you have transitioned. And that can be really daunting and that can be emotionally draining. So offering support and offering to join people on calls or just be there as a as a positive and supportive presence can go a really, really long way. So it's about fostering a culture of respect, inclusion, and support. And then, also, it means calling out teammates when they use the wrong name or pronouns or if they insult or bully a teammate. Call that out. That's not okay.

It's not respectful. It's rude. Call it out. Number three, professionalism. Avoid asking transgender teammates about any personal or sensitive information, especially including medical and sexual history. Again, the things that you can ask them about are, how can I best support you? But don't ask prying questions that you wouldn't wanna have asked to you about your own life. Number four, inclusive policies. If you're in a position of power, work to institute policies that support transgender teammates.

If you're not in a position of power, advocate for those policies. Say that those are important to you as a way to create the inclusive culture that we all want in the workplace. So those policies can include expanded medical benefits, gender neutral dress guidance, bathroom access, things like that that are small things that we maybe we just take for granted of, oh, we have a male female dress code where women are expected to wear specific outfits, but why don't we just say dress is business casual or business professional? For bathroom access, often we take for granted that there are just male and female bathrooms or men and men's and women's rooms. Maybe we can look for more gender neutral options. And then for expanded medical benefits, do our medical benefits cover gender affirming care? And if they don't, or if the state that someone is operating in does not allow for those things, do we offer travel benefits to allow people to access the care that they need in a location that does offer it? And finally, number five, professional development. And this one really supports everybody. So continue learning about the transgender community. Go to events and organizations that support transgender individuals.

Understand the challenges and barriers faced by transgender individuals both in society and especially in the workplace, and then learn how to be an impactful ally. Take advantage of those things. Advocate for that for inclusion of of trainings that support transgender individuals. Advocate for trainings that offer tips on how to support transgender individuals in the workplace for org wide, requirements, advocate for those things. The real goal here is, again, just as we every person wants to be treated fairly and wants to be able to be successful in the workplace, that holds just as true for transgender individuals. And if we're saying that we are going to be an inclusive workplace, it means supporting transgender individuals and making sure that anyone who identifies as transgender is able to be successful and is supportive in the workplace. If you have any questions about how to do that on a more specific level, we do have some experience doing that with some organizations of developing guides for supporting organizations as they transition and really delineating roles of what happens when somebody transitions in the workplace, let us know. We're here to help you, and just thank you so much for supporting transgender individuals in the workplace.

That's a wrap. I'm Jamie Applegate and that's your DEI Minute for today. Thank you for listening. Please be sure to follow us wherever you listen to podcasts and don't forget to leave us a review. If you ever have questions, please visit our website or send us an email. You can also sign up for our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. Links to everything can be found in the episode notes. This episode was edited and produced by PODCRO with podcast art by me, Jamie Abcate.