Doraville became the third metro-area city to include gender
identification in its nondiscrimination statement with a unanimous vote
on Nov. 3.
The city not only expanded its nondiscrimination policies to cover
transgender workers, but also approved a set of policies that detail
how a city employee seeking to transition genders should proceed.
The only change made to the policy before it was approved in a 6-0
vote was to require an employee provide a 30-day notice of intent to
transition.
“We made a minor modification to satisfy some people, but we passed it,” Doraville Mayor Pro-Tem Robert Roche said.
Council member Brian Bates, the only openly gay Republican elected
in Georgia, wanted to see the policies in place before the
nondiscrimination statement was changed. He said requiring 30 days
notice gives coworkers and the employee a chance to adapt.
“It provided a little bit of a comfort zone for department heads and
gave employees time to come up with a transition plan,” Bates said.
He added that the reason for the concern “was more along the lines
of showing up the day of [presenting as the opposite gender] with
notification, showing up one day with no transition plan. This allows
department heads and the employee to come up with thoughtful plan to
help ease the transition.”
Bates and Roche said the 30-day wait is reasonable because those
transitioning genders are required to gradually incorporate their
transition into all aspects of their lives.
Cole Thaler, national transgender rights attorney for Lambda Legal,
also agreed with the 30-day waiting period. Thaler said he consulted
with the city leaders on transitioning advice and provided several
model policies for the city to consider.
“When transgender employees come out and transition in the workplace
there is a series of questions that need to be answered and issues to
address, and it’s often helpful to have some time built into the
process,” Thaler said of the additional 30-day waiting period.
Bates said he is “very pleased.”
“We’re working on training for all employees,” he added.
PROACTIVE STEP
Roche had initially hoped to include both sexual orientation and
gender identity into the city’s nondiscrimination policy in May. He
said opposition from some council members and department heads resulted
in separating sexual orientation and gender identification.
“There was a huge amount of pushback from one department on that,
and for the moment I thought we would cut our losses and just get the
sexual orientation done,” Roche said, noting he planned on addressing
gender identity in the future.
Bates wanted to make sure there was a process to protect the city and
the employee before an employee transitioned in the workplace.
Doraville City Attorney Murray Weed, Bates, Roche and several
department heads met with Thaler and Jeff Graham, the executive
director of Georgia Equality.
“I think it’s just a good example of how people sometimes need to
just talk about how transgender issues would affect their workplace,”
Graham said.
Neither Roche nor Bates said they knew of an employee preparing to transition, and considered the new policy a proactive step.
Roche cited the case of Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman who
claims the state fired her because of her impending transition, as a
reason to change the city’s policies. Glenn, who worked as a
legislative editor at the General Assembly, is now suing the state and
several high-ranking lawmakers in federal court alleging she was fired
due to discrimination.
“We need to prevent that sort of thing here in Doraville,” Roche
said, adding he believes in larger issues of fairness for the gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
“The state House is not going to act on this any time soon, and
every time it comes up it goes the other way,” Roche said. “By adding
these nondiscrimination statements at the municipal levels, it’s from
the bottom up, a solution.”
Graham is hopeful that Doraville joining Atlanta and Decatur to
include gender identity in its nondiscrimination statement will lead to
other municipalities and companies following suit.
“I certainly feel that this is a beginning of a greater movement
toward acceptance in municipalities…. I do believe we will see more and
more nondiscrimination policies around the state that incorporate not
only sexual orientation but gender identity as well,” Graham said.
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