Creating an Affirming Workplace for Queer and Trans Youth

By kckate16 at Envato Elements.

I admit that this isn't a section i'd considered including, due to the adultist assumption that teens don't have jobs. We all know that's patently false. But until i saw bosses and coworkers listed in the "other" category of many surveys, it hadn't occurred to me that this would be important. (Oops. Sorry, survey-takers! Thanks for cluing me in.)

If you're the supervisor or coworker of a queer or trans teen or younger adult, congratulations! You have on staff an employee who has overcome adversity and likely has a window into oppression and marginalization that your straight, cis colleagues don't (other folx with multiple, intersecting oppressions aside).

Since you want to keep them on staff (you wouldn't be visiting Reflecting Rainbow Tweens & Teens if you didn't), below are some things you can do to support them and make their lives easier.

"The people I work with respect everyone's names and pronouns no matter what and I think that is the bare minimum to make someone feel accepted."

If so, how would they like your support?

Be sure to ask, whether that's by talking to your young queer and trans staff, attending part of a community group meeting (with advance permission), or any other way you can contact them.
- Keep in mind that your staff may not have the capacity or desire to help educate you. "No" must always be an acceptable response to your outreach.
- If you have more than one LGBTQA+ staff person, consider sending out a survey so that people can submit their ideas and needs anonymously.
Listen closely to what they say.
Compensate them for their time and expertise by offering a meal, snacks, gift cards, cash, or something similar.
Once you have their guidance, follow up on their suggestions.
Can you support them openly? Or will you need to provide them behind-the-scenes support? Your workplace and community climate will help determine that.

Most importantly, does your organization or company have a non-discrimination policy that includes actual and perceived sexual orientation and gender identity?
If not, this is absolutely your first action. Work with your HR people, if you have them, and/or your senior leadership and board, to get a policy passed. If leadership isn't supportive, find colleagues who can help you advocate with them. You're more likely to be heard if you're not the only one.
If you do have such a policy, is it effectively enforced?
- Does everyone know about it?
- Are the consequences for violations clear?
- Are staff trained on it?
- Is the policy posted in places where everyone can refer to it (the kitchen, meeting room(s), bathrooms…)?

Training
- Make sure that your staff have training on LGBTQA+/SGL lives, on what queer- and trans-antagonistic harassment is, and on what to do if they see or experience it. This training should happen on a regular basis.
- If you have queer or trans people on staff when you do this training, talk with them about whether they’d feel comfortable being there. If not, is there a way for them to get the training remotely or at a different time, perhaps by watching a recording?
- Also check out the The Equity Project.
- You can find more potential resources on the R2T2 page focused on advocacy, activist, education, and legal organizations.
Orientation
- How are new staff oriented? Does their orientation include going over your non-discrimination policy? Does the orientation make clear that your organization or company values the contributions of queer and trans staff? Do new staff learn about procedures for reporting violations?
- Does your paperwork assume there are only two genders? Does it assume that everyone is straight?

If you have employee affinity groups, does that include queer and trans group(s)? What about a group for allied cis and straight staff?
Do your LBTQA+ staff members feel comfortable enough to be fully out at work? If not, why not? What can you do to change that?
Does your organization promote from within? Does that include promoting visibly queer or trans staff members? What about staff members who may pass as cis but who are open about their gender identities and histories?
Do you collect anonymous information on staff demographics? This includes not just sexual orientation and gender identity but also race, ethnicity, disability, immigration history, HIV status, language spoken at home, and a host of other categories. What can you learn from such data? And what will you do with that information?
Normalize introducing yourselves to new staff members and/or during staff meetings with your pronouns. Keep in mind, however, that staff should not be required to share their pronouns. For instance, folx who are just starting to question their identities or those who are just starting transition can find the sharing of pronouns to be very challenging.
Include pronouns in staff email signatures. (See the caveats in the bullet immediately above, though, about not making this mandatory.)
Use gender-neutral language (e.g., "folx/folks" instead of "ladies and gentlemen" — or, my favorite, "theydies and gentlethems").
Celebrate/acknowledge LGBTQA+/SGL awareness days, weeks, and months.
And since R2T2 focuses on queer and trans tweens and teens....
- Is it clear to all staff that ageist discrimination is not acceptable? Does leadership regularly praise your teen or early-20-something staff as much as they do your older staff members? Is staff trained on ageism in the workplace? For all of these: if not, why not? And how can you fix it?
- Do you openly support any parents or queer or trans young people? If so, how? Check in with them to make sure you're meeting their needs.

Does your health insurance cover trans-related medical care? This should include therapy, hormones, and surgeries. If your policy doesn't, search for a new one and roll it out at your next open enrollment period.
Do you include partners/domestic partners wherever your benefits or policies & procedures manual mentions spouses? Not everyone wants to or can get legally married (this is especially true in the US for folx who are disabled).
Do you offer maternity leave or parental leave for the birth, fostering, or adoption of a child? If you only offer the former, you need to broaden that to include anyone in a parenting role, not just the mother or other birth parents.

Do your job listings include your LGBTQA+/SGL benefits and staff culture? Make sure to be accurate here; you don't want to overstate the reality of what staff face in your organization or company.
When looking for new staff, do you advertise your job openings in places where LGBTQA+/SGL people are most likely to see them? (Note that the sites below may not be places that youth are looking for jobs.)
- Job search sites
- Other relevant resources:

Resources from Out & Equal, "the premier organization working exclusively on LGBTQ+ workplace equality"

Other sources

Above all, see these articles on the importance of fostering queer and trans joy, hope, and strengths. You have the ability to help in this way and so many others!

What other ideas do you have? Please drop me a line to let me know!