Discrimination, Public Transportation, & a new job posting.

[AmberDay]

I was inspired by another poster about being discriminated against at a Starbucks; feel the need to tell what happened at my job several months ago. (I was not a witness, was told by my supervisor and was a hot topic for a long time). I am a city bus driver for Montgomery County, Ohio. Several months ago a fellow bus driver relieved another driver on the street (shift change). As she was driving down the street, she looked in the mirror and saw four transgender passengers. Her mouth dropped to the floor; stopped the bus immediately. She told them, "You freaks need to get off my bus!" Initially, they refused because they weren't doing anything wrong, but she threatened to call the police and was getting all the other passengers rallied against them. They got off.

Payback time. They rightfully complained. After review of the tape the bus driver was immediately fired. Being union, she was able to settle for a 30 day unpaid suspension with the condition she couldn't screw up at all for 18 months. She lasted two weeks after she returned until she crashed into a pole along the side of the road.

They say one shouldn't be happy if somebody loses their job. Well I was. The interesting thing was she is an outspoken lesbian; showing the rift between the gay and lesbian community with the transgender. I know some bus drivers that are very intolerant of gblt's but they wouldn't jeopardize their careers by doing something that stupid.

I have had several transgender and crossdressers ride my bus. It's not everyday, but it happens. With the exception of one, they have all been great. I wish I could tell them I am one as well, but have to keep things low for now. If I transition, guess they will find out!

I was impressed with my employer for taking immediate action. I am baffled why my union would even bother fighting her termination, but at least she is gone. The other thing that sucks, was she had less seniority so I didn't move up a spot on the seniority ladder.

Amber

[Violetgray]

This is an interesting story, But I don't think that it is typical of gay/transgender relations. Few human beings gay or straight, trans or cis, can house THAT much hypocrisy. Her soul must be like a clown car.

[Karren H]

That only happens in Pittsburgh when there are Browns fans on the bus!! (Or Raven fans.... ) Unions will always stand up for their members no mater what... Hopefully they will be unsuccessful. Probably a 50% chance since a lot of arbitrators are pro union.

[Presh GG]

HI,

Wow , that manager is what EVERY company should have.
I'm glad those people stood up for themselves, But my god it must have been Hell for them to be called out like that !

I think on the west coast we have a much better relationship within LGBT.

I hope !
Presh GG

[Michelle James]

This is an interesting story, But I don't think that it is typical of gay/transgender relations. Few human beings gay or straight, trans or cis, can house THAT much hypocrisy. Her soul must be like a clown car.

Something very similar happened to me in terms of gay and lesbian intolerance. My SO and I were at an art show in Ferndale, MI a couple of years ago. At that point I was just starting to go out in public. The local gay and lesbian group was having a pet adoption. We really didn't need another dog but there was this one that kind of touched our hearts. When we inquired of the person in charge she looked me up and down and said sorry we don't adopt to "wanna bees". Realizing that she had read me and being new to being out in public I panicked and we moved on rather quickly. So that being said I believe at least some animosity exists.

[Foxglove]

Thanks for this story, Amber. It gives us reason to hope.

(I myself once heard a transphobic comment by a gay guy, but I never took his attitude as typical of the gay community.)

Annabelle

[Stephanie47]

Into my sixth decade on this planet and having seen numerous groups discriminated against historically, I find it confusing that one minority group discriminates against another minority group. I see it and hear about it all the time. Sad! Sad! Sad!

[Julogden]

Ignorance and bigotry are found among all people, including gay and lesbian people, but most aren't like that, at least that's been my personal experience.

[Persephone]

Ignorance and bigotry are found among all people

I agree with the first part of what Julogden wrote. Here, just among our "transgender familly" we have every kind of person, open to bigot, conservative to liberal, and even a few who can't see their own biases and think they are the smartest people in the room.

God may have granted us the gift of being transgendered, the ability to see the world from more than one fixed position, but it wasn't necessarily accompanied by a boost in either intelligence nor wisdom.

So what makes anyone think that because we can define some arbitrary "group," that gays or lesbians or blacks or Republicans or anyone else are going to be particularly more open or more caring or anything else?

Each person is a human, not an invented statistical group, and comes with their own likes, dislikes, allergies, cancer producing genes, and so on.

So please, let's free ourselves from groupthink and begin to meet the human beings behind the phoney labels and the masks.

Hugs,
Persephone.

[ReineD]

The interesting thing was she is an outspoken lesbian; showing the rift between the gay and lesbian community with the transgender.

This is an aside, but there are feminist lesbians and lesbian groups who do not believe in transgender identity and who are hostile against TGs (for example Janice Raymond (http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-trans-community-hates-dr-janice-g.html)). They believe that M2Fs appropriate female identity while retaining male privilege, and F2Ms reject sisterhood with their fellow women.

[erickka]

This is an interesting story, But I don't think that it is typical of gay/transgender relations. Few human beings gay or straight, trans or cis, can house THAT much hypocrisy. Her soul must be like a clown car.

Well Violet, I guess you haven't been to some of the little po-dunk towns in the bible belt.....The hypocracy you speak of is quite in your face. I live in one of those places and have seen stuff like this happen coming from both young and old folks.

[Foxglove]

This is an aside, but there are feminist lesbians and lesbian groups who do not believe in transgender identity and who are hostile against TGs (for example Janice Raymond (http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-trans-community-hates-dr-janice-g.html)). They believe that M2Fs appropriate female identity while retaining male privilege, and F2Ms reject sisterhood with their fellow women.

Interesting that you should say this, Reine. This is something I've been noticing more and more lately: there are lots of people who deny that transgenderism even exists as a condition. You might as well try to deny the existence of love or gravity or gambling addiction. I suppose all of us are just so thoroughly confused and deluded that we don't know what we are. Or maybe it's some kind of conspiracy we've organized for some unknown but obviously pernicious reason. At any rate, it's quite a strategy for keeping your enemy down: simply deny that they exist. Then you don't have to be bothered addressing their grievances.

[Sally24]

Unions will always stand up for their members no mater what.

Unfortunetly not true.

One of my best friends who is transgendered was figuratively thrown under the bus by her union. They bargained with the employer to reinstate others who had commited serious violations at work. She had been dismissed for fake charges and they didn't reinstate her or get her a separation package. Unions too pick and choose what members they fight for.

[Beth Mays]

I am baffled why my union would even bother fighting her termination

As a Teamster Steward I can respond to this:
the union is NOT a judgmental right/wrong court. we protect the contract between the employee and the employer.
Even at times that I would have personally side with the company, it is not my place to decide that. Grievance panels are set up for this reason. The company will state their facts on how the person has violated the rules/contract and when they are right.. well the action taken is fair, my job is to make sure of that!.. most often unless the contract spells out it is a violation the warrants termination, the employee is put on notice, most times 90 days and any violation in that time will result in the next step in progressive disciplining that will lead to termination.

[Miriam-J]

Thank you, Persephone, for speaking this so clearly. This has been on my heart a lot recently, including every time I read an intolerant comment made by one of our members. How can we say that we expect acceptance for our own variations when we can't even accept the variations of others.

Miriam

[Julogden]

As a Teamster Steward I can respond to this:
the union is NOT a judgmental right/wrong court. we protect the contract between the employee and the employer.
Even at times that I would have personally side with the company, it is not my place to decide that. Grievance panels are set up for this reason. The company will state their facts on how the person has violated the rules/contract and when they are right.. well the action taken is fair, my job is to make sure of that!.. most often unless the contract spells out it is a violation the warrants termination, the employee is put on notice, most times 90 days and any violation in that time will result in the next step in progressive disciplining that will lead to termination.
I'm a former Teamster union steward, and agree with Beth. If a firing of a union member doesn't violate the contract between the union and the employer, there's not a darned thing that can be done by a union to protect an employee as long as the company follows what's spelled out in the contract regarding disciplinary action.

If the firing violates any human rights laws, then the person whose rights are violated has to pursue legal action on their own, maybe through the EEOC, as far as I know, although I haven't been a steward since the late 1990's and I'm not sure how that would be handled currently.

Seems like a lot of Americans have no idea of what unions really are or what they can and can't do.

Carol

[Eryn]

On the union issue, the member paid dues in part for union representation in the event of a job issue, and it would be wrong for the union to pass judgment on the employee. Guilty or not, the employee is entitled to representation and due process.

On the issue of the driver's orientation, there is a small group of lesbians who simply dislike the entire male gender. It stands to reason that they would dislike males who "emulate women" even more.

As someone on the end of the LGBT spectrum it is obvious to me that we should "hang together or we will surely hang separately." To a person more in the middle of the spectrum it might seem logical to get rid of the "fringes", particularly when the fringes contain individuals that that person hates.

[Michelle.M]

They say one shouldn't be happy if somebody loses their job. Well I was. The interesting thing was she is an outspoken lesbian; showing the rift between the gay and lesbian community with the transgender.

No, this really IS a cause for joy! It's one thing when someone loses a job due to layoff, downsizing or an employer's business failure, but it's another when someone does something they shouldn't be doing and gets fired. What should make us sad is when people who treat others as second class citizens (if even that) manage to keep their jobs - or even get promoted - and thus keep perpetuating social injustice.

Let's be clear (hopefully that troll from the Starbuck's thread will someday get this message) - bigotry, discrimination, harassment and hate are not American values. They are not family values. These things weaken a society, they do not strengthen it. If you practice these things you should not expect anyone to have your back. You should expect to be scorned, to be shunned, to be fired.

That's the only way people like this will ever learn. And it doesn't matter who the target is, whether they be a woman, gay, lesbian, trans, an ethnic minority, handicapped - whatever! And surprisingly, there is transphobia in the gay and lesbian community and also homophobia in the trans community. It's just wrong.

If you treat a fellow American as less that your equal it's wrong, and if you keep your job you didn't get a pass - you got a second chance. Make the most of it!

[Julogden]

As someone on the end of the LGBT spectrum it is obvious to me that we should "hang together or we will surely hang separately."


Let's be clear (hopefully that troll from the Starbuck's thread will someday get this message) - bigotry, discrimination, harassment and hate are not American values. They are not family values. These things weaken a society, they do not strengthen it. If you practice these things you should not expect anyone to have your back. You should expect to be scorned, to be shunned, to be fired.

That's the only way people like this will ever learn. And it doesn't matter who the target is, whether they be a woman, gay, lesbian, trans, an ethnic minority, handicapped - whatever! And surprisingly, there is transphobia in the gay and lesbian community and also homophobia in the trans community. It's just wrong.

If you treat a fellow American as less that your equal it's wrong, and if you keep your job you didn't get pass - you got a second chance. Make the most of it!

Eryn and Michelle, excellent points.

Carol