Job fair aims to help transgender workers

In a state that already has a high unemployment rate, Tennessee transgender individuals face additional challenges entering the workforce.

To connect transgender workers with employers committed to diversity and inclusion, a Transgender Job Fair is being held Friday. Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, OutCentral and Tennessee Vals, which is a Middle Tennessee transgender support group, are organizing the event.

“We’ve been pushing to get companies to update their policies, but there is still the issue of getting people into jobs, jobs with benefits, jobs with advancement possibilities,” said Marisa Richmond, a lobbyist for the coalition. “That’s the point of this, to match those companies that say they are inclusive with people trying to find jobs.”

Transgender individuals had unemployment rates that were twice the rate of the general population, with rates especially high for people of color, according to a 2011 survey study conducted by National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. More than a quarter of respondents reported losing a job because of being transgender or gender non-conforming, and 90 percent reported harassment or discrimination.

“A lot of time trans people can’t get jobs; they lose their jobs when they get out of the closet,” said Marisa Richmond, a lobbyist for the coalition. “The important point is they can be out and not have to hide who they are to get that job.”

Participating employers include Dollar General, ServiceSource, Crest Honda, Vanderbilt University, T-Mobile and others, according to the chamber. The job fair will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at OutCentral, at 1709 Church St. in Nashville.

Richmond said the event will be the first job fair dedicated to transgender individuals in the state, and that the coalition hopes to host more in other Tennessee cities.

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.