A tale of two workers
Stories illustrate different responses to trans folk on the job
by Dawn Wolfe


BTL interviews with two local trans persons show the potential disparity in reactions from one employer to another when a transgender person carries his or her transition to the workplace. The work experiences of "Jane" (who has asked that her real name not be used) and Tim Genaw show the worst, and the best, that local transgender people have faced on the job.

Jane worked in commercial construction both before and during her transition. She had been at the trade as a man for about fifteen years, but it was about three months into her second-to-last construction job that she openly expressed her gender at work.

"I reached the point where I couldn't do another day living as a guy," she said. "Getting out of the truck that morning was the scariest thing I've ever done."

Jane reports that there was very little reaction for roughly two months after that day, though, "My fellow workers tried to bait me into talking about it." However, when she asked a union official about changing her name, the reaction was pretty definite


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I hesitated putting this in, its written with such glee in its voyeuristic manner... the writer could just inform how many do not fit the illusional binary


Don't give him any labels -- he's just Larry
Marianne Costantinou


He's an odd man. Or woman. Take your pick.

He has an Adam's apple and a bosom. Both are real. So, too, is the male anatomy he says is tucked under his panty hose.

No, he answers patiently, he's not a transsexual.


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NEW REPORT ON GAY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RELEASED
OIA Newswire


NEW YORK - October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and in recognition, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs today released a 2003 Supplement to its report Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Domestic Violence in 2002.

The 2003 Supplement represents NCAVP's 8th annual analysis of this kind and looks at domestic violence through the lens of those victims who reported to its member agencies during the past year.


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A Capitol kiss controversy
Police reprimand men locking lips on state grounds
By Victoria Rossi


UT alumnus John Corvino thought it was "just some innocent kissing." He and a male friend sat talking and kissing on a park bench near the Capitol on Sept. 16, when he said a state trooper strolled by.