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New Association Will Support Transgender Professionals

The Association of Transgender Professionals will work to promote greater acceptance of gender expression at work. Research has shown that a majority of these employees often feel mistreated in the workplace.

In a survey of almost 6,500 transgender and gender-nonconforming people in the United States, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality found that 90 percent felt harassed or mistreated at work, or they took action to hide who they were to prevent discrimination.

Our belief is that in the setting of the workplace it should not matter why or how an employee expresses their gender.

High levels of reported mistreatment and harassment helped spark the recent launch of the Association of Transgender Professionals, which will work to create greater acceptance of all the ways in which people express their gender identity in the workplace.

“ATP’s vision is to create inclusion for gender expression for all employees,” the association’s founding director, Denise Norris, said in a statement released on the organization’s Facebook page. “Our belief is that in the setting of the workplace it should not matter why or how an employee expresses their gender. What ultimately matters is that the employee can fulfill the duties of the job for which they were hired.”

The new association will focus on three main goals: acceptance, talent, and placement, or A.T.P. It will help promote the inclusion of gender-expression diversity in the workplace to increase awareness and equality, provide professional development and networking opportunities for transgender individuals, and help develop better recruitment methods so employers can tap the talent of this community.

In a YouTube video introducing the new association, Norris explained that some organizations on the local level as well as some LGBT organizations work to promote the needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, but there is still a need at the national level to advocate for these employees.

“We believe the time is right to launch a national organization that’s going to focus on the needs of gender-expression diversity in the workplace and help corporations put this into their inclusion and diversity models,” she said.

Katie Bascuas

By Katie Bascuas

Katie Bascuas is associate editor of Associations Now. MORE

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