For lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees in Florida, finding workplace acceptance is a tricky thing — without state laws to protect them from discrimination, they must rely on employers to protect them and create an accepting environment.

Some local employers accomplish that. Others don't.

Under state law, employers can still fire LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) employees due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. But employers are improving, activists say; many have adopted anti-discrimination policies stating they won't discriminate against LGBT employees.

Brevard School District, for example, passed a nondiscrimination policy for LGBT teachers, students and staff in July. But many private schools don't have any such policy.

A Palm Bay gay teacher recently said she was forced out of her job at Covenant Christian School on Oct 2. The part-time theater teacher, Monica Toro Lisciandro, said administrators called her into a meeting and said the school had received word that Lisciandro was in a relationship with a woman, she had attended a pride festival, and she hosted an LGBTQ group in her studio.

Activists say that legislation is needed to protect LGBT workers. Until then, individual employers can take steps to make workplaces more supportive of LGBT employees.

Locally, Harris (now merged with L3 Technologies to become L3Harris) earned the highest possible rating from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index in April, its fourth time earning a score of 100 out of 100. The index evaluates non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, competency programs and public engagement with the LGBT community.

Harris and L3 previously came under fire from LGBT activists after L3 ordered 240 new aircraft from Vero Beach-based Piper Aircraft Inc., a company owned by the government of Brunei. Brunei implemented a new law in April that punishes sex between men and adultery with death by stoning.

Despite that controversy, some local activists say L3Harris has a reputation for being among the friendliest employers to LGBT people. They're one of the biggest sponsors of Space Coast Pride.

"They're just phenomenal," said Daniel McDow, a member of both the Space Coast LGBTA Democratic Caucus and the Space Coast Pride board, who does a lot outreach work with employers.

Kirsten Wilkers, vice president of talent and inclusion for L3Harris, said in an email that L3Harris has adopted policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment "in all forms" and hosts internal and external LGBT pride events.

"L3Harris believes that embracing diverse ideas and talent is critical to our success," Kirsten Wilkers, vice president of talent and inclusion for L3Harris, said in an email.

Truleive, Florida's largest licensed cannabis company, is another big sponsor of Space Coast Pride. Founded in 2015, the company is only just starting to develop antidiscrimination policies. The company has grown fast, jumping from 1,100 workers in 2018 to over 3,000 today, and employs 35 people in Brevard County.

The policies will forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as gender, race and other differences. The company currently provides single-use bathrooms and is working with Equality Florida, a civil rights organization that advocates against LGBT discrimination, to develop its diversity policies.

Trulieve spokesman David Letro said LGBT inclusiveness is near his heart as a gay man. He's one of the leaders in developing the new policy.

"You should be valued and respected in the workplace, because you do spend a lot of your time here," Letro said. "Outside of your home, this is like your second family, you could say, one that you choose to be a part of. And as long as they are welcoming and accepting all of us together to work together as a team, we can push for the greater good of society."

McDow said he recently spoke to several local LGBT people about their workplaces. Many described diversity policies and seemed satisfied that those policies alone were enough to make the workplace LGBT-friendly, but McDow said he was "a little disappointed" by the response.

"There was a sense of acceptance, you know, that we've come a long way," McDow said. "And really, I think we're at a midpoint."

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Some changes that LGBT activists ask for can be slow in coming for a variety of reasons, said McDow. Providing gender neutral bathrooms can be difficult depending on whether existing infrastructure allows for it.

McDow's husband Bill McKay, the secretary of Space Coast Pride, said obtaining company healthcare plans that cover gender confirmation surgery or hormone therapy for transgender people can be difficult because people view transgender healthcare as elective.

"It's one of those things that's going to take another decade, I think, to happen," McKay said.

The use of gender-neutral pronouns by people who don't identify as strictly male or female is a concept that is slowly gaining some mainstream acceptance, but not all employees might understand or even be aware of it. Some of that lack of knowledge is generational, McDow said, and training can help expand understanding.

Many modern workplace concerns, including bathrooms and pronouns, center around accommodations for transgender people. Of all LGBT people, transgender people are probably the least accepted or understood, McDow said.

"I would say that if we're looking if there's any areas where help is needed more than the other, it's definitely in the in the transgender area," McDow said.

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Bailey Gallion is the business and development reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallion at 321-242-3786.