People-Centered Workplaces: Trans and Non-binary Inclusion

Written By AnnE Diemer
Image description: a trans flag (blue, pink, and white horizontal stripes) with a heart on top of it with the stripes for a non-binary flag (yellow, white, purple, and black stripes).

We’re barely a week into the new White House administration, and they have already attacked the rights of trans and non-binary people. The executive actions are horrifying and dehumanizing. But a wise friend told me, “don’t give their action your attention, give attention to how you’ll respond.” So, taking that advice to heart, I’m here to respond as a cis-woman and HR professional who would like to give you some ideas for how you can immediately make changes to support trans and non-binary folks in your workplace.

Your communication:

The way you speak and write at work matters. During the prayer service at the Washington's National Cathedral the day after Inauguration, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde used her platform to advocate for marginalized individuals who “fear for their lives” under the new administration. In just one speech, she highlighted many freedoms that are at stake with the administration’s new policies, and reminded us of the power we have to speak up and push back.

Please, use her as inspiration to continually and loudly share your support for all marginalized folks even if you think, “it’s a given, everyone knows what we believe.” They might, but as Budde demonstrated, it certainly doesn’t hurt to reinforce it.

  • Use gender neutral pronouns. It’s grammatically correct, I promise. Look through all of your company documentation and Command+F for “he” “his” “him” “she” “her” “hers”. Replace these with “they” “them” “theirs”. (E.g. Replace “Each employee should submit his or her timesheet…” with “Each employee should submit their timesheet…”)

  • Use other gender neutral nouns. Look for terms like “mother” “father” “husband” “wife” (replace with “parent” and “spouse” or “partner”) but also job titles like “policeman” (replace with police officer) or “congressman” (replace with “Representative" or “Member of Congress”). 

  • Ask employees to share their pronouns on slack and in their email. Normalize sharing pronouns! Mine are in my email signature along with this link.

    • Also, when facilitating introductions in a meeting, normalize prompting everyone to include their pronouns following their name if they are comfortable doing so. (E.g. "Let's go around and introduce ourselves with our names and pronouns, if you are comfortable sharing them"). When facilitating one-on-one introductions, use your own pronouns and ask "what pronouns would you like us to use?"

  • Avoid tokenizing trans, non-binary, and other LGBTQIA+ individuals. If you feel like you want to learn more or do more, that’s great! But please do not ask your team members to be responsible for your education. Instead, please use Google to find the multitude of books, podcasts, and articles that exist to help you. (And also check out some of the links I have at the end of this blog.)

    • Remember: though LGBTQIA+ folks encompass a community, individual identities within the community matter. These executive actions specifically target trans and non-binary people, and we must say that. We should not just group it into “anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation”.

  • Check in. Take time in a team meeting and/or an all staff meeting to acknowledge everything folks are grappling with alongside their day-to-day responsibilities. Remind them that you do not expect them to be work robots. Emphasize to everyone that your workplace will always stand with marginalized individuals and that everyone can always be their authentic selves in your workplace.

Your employee resources:

In the United States, our access to healthcare is often determined by our employment. That means your organization can significantly impact whether or not your employees get the care that they need – the care that is a human right. Whenever you update your health insurance plans or add benefits policies, ensure that the new policies will work for all identities and in all locations. And remember, healthcare is more than just medical! Mental health matters!

  • Relocation support. Consider offering relocation support for employees who face discriminatory laws or lack access to essential healthcare in their current location. Many organizations offer relocation packages for employees to work in the city most relevant to their role. You can expand that support to employees who are no longer safe in their current location because of their identity. If an employee can’t get access to gender affirming healthcare in their state, or even safely and comfortably use a public bathroom, they are not likely to be a productive employee. Providing relocation support can help ease the burden of their life-saving move, and ensure your employee feels comfortable where they are working and living.

  • Employee work travel. If your employees are required to travel to other states for work, check in to be sure they still feel safe on these trips and/or feel comfortable leaving their families to go on these trips. There are lots of resources out there that can help identify risky areas, but even if an area is not listed as risky, trust the lived experience of your team if they say they don’t feel safe. If an employee needs to sit out a few trips, that can be considered a “reasonable accommodation”.

  • Health insurance. Ensure that at least one (if not all!) your health insurance plans explicitly cover gender affirming care. Ideally, your insurance should meet the World Professional Association for Transgender Health up to date standards of care. If you have offices/employees in multiple locations, ensure that your health insurance is based in a state that requires insurers to provide coverage for gender-affirming care (as of this writing, that applies to California, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Washington). 

  • Supplemental benefits. It can be helpful to offer additional benefits as well such as memberships for services like FOLX and Plume. Businesses like Lyra Health can ensure that all employees have access to affordable and culturally competent mental health support as well. Additionally, if you offer fertility benefits to employees, ensure they support LGBTQ+ family building.

  • Definitions. Some companies require marriage documentation in order to add a partner to an employer sponsored health insurance plan. Whenever possible, define “spouse” as broadly as you can to include individuals who cannot get legally married or do not have legal proof of their marriage.

  • Family leave. Ensure your parental leave policies apply to all families, no matter how they are created (e.g. pregnancy, adoption, surrogacy, etc.).

Your education:

This guide is just a starting point with regards to all of the things your organization can do to support trans and non-binary folks at work. I hope you reread this in a year and scoff at how behind-the-times I am when it comes to creating inclusive workplaces. Honestly, I hope you read this tomorrow and think that!

We’re all always learning and I’m so grateful to my friends and colleagues who helped me pull together these recommendations and called me out when I missed things. Also, I’m so grateful for the organizations that have been working so hard for so long to ensure trans and non-binary folks have great resources like the ones I listed here. And of course, I couldn’t have done any of this without standing on the shoulders of the activists, protestors, rebels, and queens who created a foundation that allows everyone to show up as their authentic selves despite societal insistence on binaries and oppression.

But if you leave this blog remembering only one thing, let it be this: Trans and non-binary folks have always been here and always will be here. Trans and non-binary folks make the world better.

Here are just a few resources to help you learn more.

AnnE Diemer
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