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Human Resources
16 October 2024 - 5 min read
There’s no denying that attitudes towards the LGBT+ community in British society have improved massively over the last few decades. It wasn’t so long ago, back in the 1950s (within living memory) that you could be arrested for living in your own sexuality or gender identity.
Whilst huge strides forward have been made, many more marginalised members of the LGBT+ community still face violence, intimidation and harassment at work. In particular, trans and non-binary people.
In this blog we’ll explore some of the key things that HR needs to know when it comes to supporting trans and non-binary employees and look at some important measures you can take to improve inclusivity in your own workplace and practice.
‘Trans’ is a shortened form of the word ‘Transgender’. It refers to someone whose gender identity differs from the one that they were given when they were born. For some, the gender that they were given at birth doesn’t match the gender that they feel they truly are.
For example, someone could have been born as a woman but really identify as a man.
A trans man is someone who was assigned female at birth but who identifies as a man. A trans women is someone who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman.
There are currently a lot of heated arguments ongoing in UK society about transgender people and our attitudes towards gender as a fixed category more generally. Whatever you believe, there’s no denying the fact that transgender people – people who move between the binaries of male and female – have always existed in society, and always will exist.
In the western world, some of the earliest recorded examples of people who may have been trans or non-binary, include male Roman priests called The Galli, who lived over 2,200 years ago in 230BCE. They worshipped the Goddess Cybele and lived their entire lives as women, wearing female clothes, jewellery and transitioning from living as men to living as women. The cult around Cybele stretched across the whole of the Mediterranean – from Greece and Italy through to Mespotaemia (modern day Iraq and Iran).
Fast forward over 2,000 years and the trans community is still here.
Trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people have always been present in society. Whether it’s rising to prominence in it, like Alan L. Hart (Born 1890, died 1962) who pioneered the use of X-rays to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) – a major disease that killed millions worldwide, or living in relevant obscurity during their lifetime, like influential gender non-conforming activists, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Riveria, the ‘T +’ spectrum of the LGBT+ community has always existed in society and always will.
Gender is traditionally categorised as a binary – as a choice between one of two things, in this case, the gender categories of either male or female. Most trans people will identify on this binary, as either a trans man or a trans woman.
This isn’t necessarily the case for someone who is non-binary however.
Like trans people, non-binary people are ‘gender non-conforming’ – people who feel that their gender identity differs from what they were assigned at birth and who feel that gender identity isn’t something fixed permanently.
However, non-binary is a completely different category of gender identity altogether.
For non-binary people, gender is fluid and exists on a spectrum rather than a binary. They might think that arbitrary categories like male and female don’t really describe their true gender identity. As a result, non-binary people may mix different elements of being male and different elements of being female. They may not even identify with a gender at all.
The ‘LGBT in Britain: Trans Report’ by Stonewall has some troubling findings when it comes to the experience of trans and non-binary in UK society currently.
The charity found that:
Some of the key issues affecting trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in the workplace include things like:
Bullying, harassment and victimisation are issues that trans and non-binary are likely to face in society are also likely to be reflected in the workplace too. No matter how enlightened or progressive you feel that your organisation is, trans and non-binary people are still at a high risk of discrimination, victimisation and harassment.
As the gender spectrum can be quite a confusing spectrum to get your head around if you aren’t part of the LGBT+ community, a lack of understanding of the issues can often lead to trans and non-binary people feeling isolated in the workplace and to silly mistakes being made by HR. For example, not understanding about gender transitions can lead to special requirements, like gender neutral bathrooms, not being in place, leading to vital support being denied.
One of the best resources to consult when it comes to thinking more about the support that you can provide to trans and non-binary employees in the workplace is the Transgender Workplace Support Project created by UK charity LGBT Health and Wellbeing. This report looks at some of the essential steps that employers – and specifically, HR departments – can take towards making their workplaces more inclusive.
When it comes to talking about the diversity of genders and sexualities that exist there’s no denying that the world loves a good acronym. If you’re not already part of the LGBT community (and sometimes, even if you are), this language can be hard to get your head around. What’s more, when you add the fact that we use quite complex concepts and terminology for issues around gender identity it can become pretty daunting.
Nobody is expecting HR departments to become experts on the nuances of gender identity and gender theory instantly. They are, however, expecting HR professionals to do their best and at least make an effort to understand the experiences of trans and non-binary and how they might need extra support in a workplace context. Gender identity is a deeply held thing for many people. Treating it with the sensitivity and care it deserves should be the first thing that any HR professional bears in mind when approaching the issue.
Usually the most effective way to develop a good understanding of an issue is also one of the simplest actions you can take – listen to others. By listening to others you can gather important information that can help you plan your strategy and also build trust and empathy – essential elements when it comes to building professional working relationships.
Having one on one conversations where you talk with trans and non-binary employees in your workplace where you can find out more about their experience of work and what support they would benefit from is absolutely essential if you want to gain an accurate understanding of the situation in your workplace. And if you’re serious about improving it.
Some useful listening strategies to find out more about the experience of trans and non binary people in your workplace could include running things like:
Remember to use different listening techniques to ensure that you really get the best out of the experience.
First and most importantly, as the Transgender Workplace Support Project by LGBT Health and Wellbeing points out, it’s important to remember that it’s illegal to disclose that someone is trans or non-binary, without their permission. Confidentiality is absolutely essential.
UK law provides some protection to trans and non-binary employees from discrimination through the 2010 Equality Act. This is a piece of legislation that’s designed to protect employees from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. As a HR professional, understanding how this piece of legislation protects trans and non-binary people is essential when it comes to building a supportive culture at work.
The 2010 Equality Act lists a number of ‘protected characteristics’ that make it illegal to discriminate against someone based on a specific trait. According to the UK Government, they include things like:
As you can see, gender reassignment (or changing your gender) is a protected characteristic, meaning that an employer will be breaking the law if they discriminate against you on the basis of being trans, non-binary or living as a gender that isn’t your birth-assigned one.
Whilst the term ‘surgical intervention’ can seem quite drastic, you don’t necessarily need to have had surgical intervention to be classed as being protected by the gender reassignment characteristic. According to the EHRC guidance on the act, gender reassignment is interpreted as ‘proposing to undergo, undergoing or having undergone a process to reassign your sex’. If you fall into any of these three categories, you would likely be considered to have a protected characteristic and be protected by the act.
The Equality Act 2010 provides protection against discrimination in:
If employers are found to have discriminated against someone based on a protected characteristic, they run the risk of prosecution and fines. They may lose an employment tribunal case if one is brought, too.
Make sure that key decision-makers, management and line-managers in your organisation are aware of the law and keep your eye out for any sign that trans and non-binary people are being discriminated against in the workplace.
At the end of the day, the Equality Act 2010 is there to protect the dignity and rights of marginalised groups and to ensure that they are not treated differently than others. Upholding it is more than about obeying the law. It’s about ensuring a basic human principle: treat others how you want to be treated yourself.
A pronoun is a type of language used to describe the gender of someone. Think of words like ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’.
Calling someone by the right pronoun might seem like an incredibly small thing to get right but it’s also consistently highlighted by trans and non-binary people as one of the most effective ways of making them feel valued and respected at work.
As this fantastic resource by trade union Unison explores, getting pronouns right helps to confirm and validate a person’s gender identity. It’s a basic act of respect. Pronouns are effectively a way for people to exercise control over their gender identity.
By recognising and using the pronouns that a person wants to be addressed by, you’ll be validating their gender and helping them to feel accepted at work. Doing this is a simple step that is incredibly powerful when it comes to support.
If in doubt about someone’s pronouns, always ask – most trans and non-binary people will be grateful that you’ve made the effort to get things right.
Training and dedicated learning is probably one of the strongest tools you have at your disposal to build a supportive workplace for trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.
Education allows us to develop an awareness of other points of views and the experiences of others, outside of our own. This can improve empathy and help us to treat others with more respect. As a result, through investing in training that covers common sexuality and gender identity, you’ll be able to address misconceptions, fight stigmatisation and drive real cultural change in your workplace.
LGBT+ charities and trans organisations offer dedicated training programmes that employers can use in the workplace. Using one of these courses can take the pressure off of your L&D team slightly when it comes to creating a training that works. Stonewall, for example, one of the UK’s largest LGBT+ charities, offers a range of workshops, leadership programmes to develop the potential of LGBT+ employees and advice to help improve inclusivity at your organisation.
As you’ve probably gathered from reading this blog, one of the best ways that you can make your workplace supportive for trans and non-binary employees is through investing in dedicated training. That training takes two forms: collective and individual. Finding a balance between the two is essential when it comes to building a culture of support and inclusiveness in your organisation.
We hope this blog has given you some starting ideas about how HR can help support trans and non binary people in your workplace.
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