Editorial: Trans White House hire should inspire job protections

The White House will soon host yet another “first.”

President Obama’s administration announced Tuesday that it has hired its first openly transgender White House staffer. Raffi Freedman-Gurspan will work as an outreach and recruitment director for the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

Freedman-Gurspan’s hiring is another step toward guaranteeing inclusivity, and she joins only seven other openly trans people who have worked for the administration.

While we should celebrate Freedman-Gurspan’s hiring, her employment also offers a moment to reflect on the uncomfortable truth that many trans people do not have jobs. Trans people continue to face particularly high levels of employment discrimination, leading to greater economic insecurity.

Lawmakers need to expand employee protections to prevent trans job discrimination and help them earn a livable wage.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, the trans unemployment rate is twice the national rate at 14 percent. Fifteen percent of transgender people earned a household income less than $10,000 in 2013, nearly four times the national average.

Transgender people are uniquely vulnerable to workplace discrimination because of pressure to present as genders other than their own or follow — unjust, but firm — societal norms.

According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 26 percent of trans people have lost their job because of their gender. Half of the respondents said they have faced harassment while on the job.

But only 45 percent of Americans are protected by state anti-discrimination laws that specifically target transgender employees. That means the majority of people have no protection for being who they are in their careers.

Even for those who are covered, legal battles to win their cases are hard to pay for with fewer career prospects and on the losing end of a wage gap. Discrimination cases in general are often difficult to prove in court.

The federal government must protect all workers by expanding the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to include transgender individuals.

A 2011 poll found that 73 percent of likely voters support anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ employees. Five years later, even though there are more trans figures and role models in popular culture than ever, this number is likely even higher. Stopping blatant discrimination is should not face political opposition.

Of course, that won’t be the case. Nothing related to LGBTQ+ rights is that simple.

But regardless of how politicized gender is, nobody should be unable to find work because of their location and identity. We have collectively agreed on that concept when it comes to race and binary genders — legally speaking, at least.

By bringing in Freedman-Gurspan, the White House sends a strong message — but it could go a lot further. The federal government must act to protect people of all identities from all sectors of the work force.