Allana Akhtar

USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — Kiernynn Grantham-Crum is starting college this fall at UC Berkeley to study programming with the goal of one day landing a job in Silicon Valley.

Like many, the new high school grad is nervous about building skills coveted by the tech industry. One piece of prep that may pay off: a summer camp in San Francisco that helps gay, transgender and questioning students get comfortable with tech.

The hope is, “as long as you write good code, as long as you make good hardware, it doesn’t really matter who your partner is, what you identify as," says Grantham-Crum, 17, who identifies as transgender pansexual.

Grantham-Crum belongs to an increasingly visible, though still small, group in tech: people who identify as transwomen, transmen, genderqueer, non-binary and intersex.

The tech industry has a track record of championing gay rights, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some transgender workers in technology say they find the industry's flexibility about appearance and sexual orientation welcoming.

Yet they confront disparity in treatment and pay, according to a recent survey and interviews, and their experiences can still be marginalized in the broader gay rights conversations.

"There’s this fear that we are just going to get rejected for who we are all the time, and we are all kind of treading on eggshells making sure we are treated well,” said Jessica Janiuk, a transgender woman and software developer for Norwalk, CT-based Datto, a business-continuity services company.

San Francisco nonprofit Trans*H4CK surveyed over 600 tech workers in the U.S. who identified as transwomen, transmen, genderqueer, non-binary and intersex.

On average, those polled made less than the average annual salary of $96,370 for tech professionals as reported by Dice.com. More than half — 57.2% — of respondents reported making less than $76,000, with 22% making less than $20,000, according to the online survey taken between December 2015 and February 2016.

“Sharing this data is super important because we want to empower trans people to advocate for themselves in the negotiation process,” Kortney Ziegler, founder of Trans*H4CK, Ziegler said in an e-mail.

Janiuk, the software developer, says she didn't negotiate a higher salary when she started in tech because she was afraid the company would rescind its offer. After she got past the hiring stage at tech companies, except for one instance when a colleague deliberately mis-gendered her, she said she has felt largely accepted by her coworkers.

The industry, slow to shift from a culture that's resulted in largely white, male workforces, has historically struggled with treatment of transgender employees, says Richard Greggory Johnson III, professor of public policy at the University of San Francisco School of Management.

“Tech companies are dealing with basic diversity of race, and gender of biological women. When you factor in transgender, I believe at least from my research that either it is not a thing to be raised or just not considered at all," Johnson said.

The experience of Lynn Conway has acted as a warning for transgender tech workers. The pioneer in microelectronics was fired from IBM in 1968 after making it clear she planned to transition from male to female, a decision she told USA TODAY came from IBM top management, including CEO Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

In a statement, IBM noted its current workforce diversity policy protects workers against discrimination, including gender identity and sexual orientation. Its health benefits have covered cover sex reassignment surgery in the U.S. for over a decade, and it expects to introduce the benefit in other countries.

Much has changed, says Amy Hackenberger, a product manager at Yahoo and a transwoman, who began transitioning at the end of April and said she has not reached the state where she “passes,” or fully appears as a biological woman.

Hackenberger said at first she was scared to use the women’s bathroom at work due to fear of being ostracized or hurt, but women at work were friendly or unmindful of her in the bathroom.

“I am grateful to work in an industry where I get to forget I’m transitioning every day, because hopefully I’ll pass and I’ll get to that state, but it’s nice to be there now where no one is snarky, no one is rude, I’m certainly not harassed,” she said.

Technology companies are starting to address issues of gender identity, spurring dialogue.

At Google, two employees on the finance team debuted Trans @ Google training for colleagues in 2015.

Indeed.com, headquartered in Texas, a state that does not prohibit firing someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, has a progressive non-discrimination policy, covering gender reassignment surgeries for trans folks.

The online recruiter is working toward creating a gender neutral bathroom, said Brian Christinakis, manager of sales and products at Indeed and the head of iPride, the company’s LGBT inclusion resource group.

Google, Apple, Microsoft and other big tech companies protested a law passed in North Carolina that requires individuals to use only restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates in government facilities.

Policies and public statements are closely tied with the industry's ultra competitive fight for new talent.

“Companies that aren’t actively recruiting and figuring out how to be inclusive around the needs of transgender employees are missing a huge part of the talent pool,” Nicole Sanchez, GitHub’s vice president of social impact.

GitHub says nearly 2% of its employees identify as trans.

Harassment, job loss

In the U.S., about 1.4 million adults identify as transgender, according to a study by UCLA's The Williams Institute, a larger population than previously estimated. Their presence has come to the forefront as the nation wrestles with transgender issues, with lawmakers in some states pressing for "bathroom bills" that limit access for transgender people and with the U.S. military lifting its ban on enlisting transgender people.

In the workforce, they face fundamental challenges. According to a 2011 study published by the National Center for Transgender Equality and National LGBTQ Task Force, 90% of those surveyed reported experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination at work, or took actions like hiding who they are to avoid it. More than one-quarter said they lost a job because they were transgender or gender non-conforming.

For some, technology can act as a welcome buffer.

GitHub's Sanchez said she noticed the way tech can add an added layer of protection and authenticity for transgender people by watching her children, who identify as gender queer, interact with it. Using computers, they can say what they really mean without fearing for their safety or worrying about being stared at.

The potential opportunities for transgender youth in tech is in part why Monica Ann Arrambide founded Maven, which sponsors tech-focused summer camps for queer youth.

“The company isn’t saying you have to wear this uniform, you can’t wear your tattoos, cover them up, you can’t have nose piercings,” she said. “I don’t see that happening in the tech industry.”

Follow Allana Akhtar @allanaakh ​