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.