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The politicization of the trans-identity and its effects on transgender employment

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The politicization of the trans-identity and its effects on transgender employment

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Content The Politicization of the Trans-identity and Its Effects on Transgender Employment
Jessica Renee Stoneham
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty.
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
August 2024

© Copyright by Jessica Renee Stoneham, 2024
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Jessica Renee Stoneham certifies the approval of this Dissertation.
Courtney Malloy
Patrick Cates
Marsha Riggio, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2024

iv
Abstract
This qualitative study examined the workplace experiences of 19 transgender individuals: four
transwomen, nine nonbinary individuals, and six transmen. This study analyzed the effects of
sociopolitical forces on the participants’ employment, the challenges they faced, and the effects
of these challenges on them. The results were that the sociopolitical impact on employment
caused the participants to be very circumspect about the potential employer’s location, medical
benefits, and environment. In addition, with the rise of transphobia, cisnormativity increased as
people became polarized on the topic. The challenges participants faced were isolation and
inadequate support from human resources. In addition, the study found that experiences differed
among transwomen, nonbinary, and transmen participants. Transgender women dealt with more
overt harassment consisting of transgender and sexual harassment. Transmen had the least issues
reported, but the study did include participants who were not out at work and kept to themselves.
Nonbinary participants generally dealt with denial of their nonbinary identity, being seen and
referred to as their birth gender. The workplace caused stress and depression among participants.
Their coping mechanisms focused on being with transgender community and therapy.
Participants also had a solid civic justice belief, leading them to volunteer, advocate, and support
marginalized communities.
Keywords: transgender, discrimination, nonbinary, transmen, transwomen, isolation,
depression, harassment, coping, transphobia

v
Dedication
To my family, for all their love and inspiration throughout my life.
To my mother and father, Dianne and David Stoneham, whom I dearly wish could see me
completing a doctorate after a slightly misbegotten youth.
To my brother and sisters, Daniel, La Eenya, and Davina Stoneham, for their love and support.
Davina, I will hold you to the promise of calling me Doctor one time.
To my great sons, DJ and Alex, for inspiring me to continue my educational journey as you
continue yours. DJ, I am proud that you started. Alex, it is your turn to start college next.
To my wonderful wife, Amy Stoneham, as there is no one more deserving of dedication than she
who met a kid getting out of the Navy as she was finishing her master’s so many years ago and
guided, supported, motivated, and sometimes threatened me through multiple degrees when I
thought I was not smart or good enough to get one. This is the culmination of our journey
together. I love you so much!

vi
Acknowledgments
I want to acknowledge my wife and sons, who have supported me through the process
and endured my absences with grace and understanding. I want to acknowledge my team at
work, who has covered admirably while I was off on my writing excursions, especially Angela
Echeverria, Kimberly Saari, Aimee Mendez, and Laura Robinson, who have also taken an
interest in my research and helped motivate me. I want to thank the team who helped me find
participants for the study through their work with the community. I want to thank the staff at
USC for the knowledge and help they extended. Especially to my dissertation committee, which
includes Dr. Riggio, Dr. Malloy, and Dr. Cates. Finally, I thank my cohort for making classes
fun and exciting.
As a lesbian, I would be remiss if I did not mention Nebula, Ninja, Nova, Shadow, and
Zazzle, who have slept by me during every step of writing this dissertation.

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Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................v
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. xiii
List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xiv
Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................15
Background of the Problem ...............................................................................................15
Political Forces...................................................................................................................16
Social Forces ......................................................................................................................17
The Workplace ...................................................................................................................18
Statement of the Problem ...............................................................................................................18
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................................19
Research Questions ........................................................................................................................19
Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................20
Politics .......................................................................................................................... 20
Workplace .................................................................................................................... 20
Definition of Terms........................................................................................................................20
Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations, and Positionality .........................................................21
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................23
Organization of the Study ..............................................................................................................23
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature .........................................................................................25
Search Descriptions .......................................................................................................................25
Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................................26

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Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................................27
Literature Review...........................................................................................................................28
Work and the Transgender Identity ...................................................................................28
Culture’s Influence on the Workplace ......................................................................... 28
Discrimination .............................................................................................................. 29
Hiring ........................................................................................................................... 31
Transitioning ................................................................................................................ 32
Psychological Safety and the Trans Individual ..................................................................33
Effects of Misgendering ............................................................................................... 33
Effects of Microaggressions ......................................................................................... 34
Psychological Repercussions of Discrimination ................................................................35
Suicide .......................................................................................................................... 35
Internalized Transphobia and Shame ........................................................................... 37
Anxiety, Depression, and Stigma ................................................................................. 37
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................38
Chapter Three: Methodology .........................................................................................................39
Research Design.............................................................................................................................39
Research Questions ........................................................................................................................40
Research Setting.............................................................................................................................40
Participants .....................................................................................................................................41
Target and Accessible Population ......................................................................................41
Sample .......................................................................................................................... 42
Sample Method ............................................................................................................ 42
Recruitment .................................................................................................................. 43

ix
Data Collection ..............................................................................................................................44
Demographic Survey .........................................................................................................45
Interview Protocol ..............................................................................................................45
Procedures ..........................................................................................................................45
Confidentiality Parameters.................................................................................................46
Raw Data ............................................................................................................................46
Data Analysis and Reporting .........................................................................................................47
Data Management ..............................................................................................................47
Encryption ..........................................................................................................................48
Dissemination of Findings .................................................................................................48
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................49
Descriptive Analysis ..........................................................................................................49
Demographic Data .............................................................................................................49
Thematic Analysis .............................................................................................................49
Phase 1: Getting Familiar with the Data ...................................................................... 50
Phase 2: Generating Initial Codes ................................................................................ 50
Step 3: Searching for Themes ...................................................................................... 50
Step 4: Reviewing the Themes ..................................................................................... 51
Step 5: Defining and Naming the Themes ................................................................... 51
Step 6: Produce a Report .............................................................................................. 51
Reliability ...........................................................................................................................51
Dependability .....................................................................................................................51
Confirmability ....................................................................................................................52
Validity ..............................................................................................................................52
Credibility ..........................................................................................................................53

x
Transferability ....................................................................................................................53
Summary ........................................................................................................................................54
Chapter Four: Results or Findings .................................................................................................55
Demographics ................................................................................................................................55
Research Question 1: Sociopolitical Influences on the Workplace ...............................................57
Employment Location ........................................................................................................57
Job Selection Factors .........................................................................................................59
Cisnormativity....................................................................................................................62
Discussion ..........................................................................................................................66
Research Question 2: Transgender Challenges in the Workplace .................................................67
Challenges With Transgender Identity ..............................................................................68
Transwomen ................................................................................................................. 70
Transgender Nonbinary ................................................................................................ 73
Transmen ...................................................................................................................... 75
Isolation..............................................................................................................................76
Human Resources ..............................................................................................................79
Discussion ..........................................................................................................................84
Research Question 3: Psychological Safety ...................................................................................84
Negative Psychological Effects .........................................................................................85
Coping Methods .................................................................................................................88
Helping Others ...................................................................................................................92
Discussion ..........................................................................................................................96
Summary ........................................................................................................................................96
Chapter Five: Discussion ...............................................................................................................98
Summary of Findings and Conclusion ...........................................................................................98

xi
Implications for Practice ..............................................................................................................101
Recommendations ........................................................................................................................102
Society Recommendations ...............................................................................................102
Recommendation 1: Stop Making New Anti-Transgender Laws .............................. 102
Recommendation 2: Make Laws to Allow Transgender People to Change Their
Documentation ........................................................................................................... 103
Discussion .................................................................................................................. 103
Workplace Recommendations .........................................................................................104
Recommendation 1: Provide Trans-inclusive Health Benefits .................................. 104
Recommendation 2: Provide Higher Transgender Competency Training to Human
Resources ................................................................................................................... 105
Recommendation 3: Institute Transgender Best Practices as Stated by HRC ........... 105
Discussion .................................................................................................................. 106
Future Research ...........................................................................................................................107
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................107
References ....................................................................................................................................109
Appendix A: Research Question Grid .........................................................................................125
Appendix B: Recruitment Email ..................................................................................................126
Appendix C: Demographic Survey ..............................................................................................127
Appendix D: Interview Protocol ..................................................................................................128
Appendix E: Informed Consent ...................................................................................................130
Appendix F: Confirmation Email ................................................................................................134

xii
List of Tables
Table 1 Types of Microaggressions with Examples 36
Table 2 Process and Research Questions 44
Table 3 Data Locations 48
Table 4 Participant Demographics 56
Table 5 Employment Location Theme’s Main Defining Codes 57
Table 6 Job Selection Factors Theme’s Main Defining Codes 60
Table 7 Cisnormativity Theme’s Main Defining Codes 63
Table 8 Participants’ Trans-identity at Work 69
Table 9 Gender Identity Theme’s Main Defining Codes 69
Table 10 Isolation Theme’s Main Defining Codes 77
Table 11 Human Resources Theme’s Main Defining Codes 79
Table 12 Human Resources Effective 80
Table 13 Psychological Safety Theme’s Main Defining Codes 85
Table 14 Psychological Issues Analysis 87
Table 15 Coping Theme’s Main Defining Codes 88
Table 16 Coping Mechanisms Outside of Work 89
Table 17 Coping Theme’s Main Defining Codes 92
Table 18 Methods in Which Participants Help Others 93
Table 19 Summary of Findings 99
Appendix A: Research Question Grid 125

xiii
List of Figures
Figure 1 Conceptual Framework 27
Figure 2 Psychological Safety Word Cloud 86

xiv
List of Abbreviations
EST: Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory
GNC: Gender-nonconforming
LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual
MTF: Male to female
FTM: Female to male
HR: Human resources
Trans: Transgender
Transfemme: Transfeminine
Transmasc: Transmasculine
TG: Transgender

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Chapter One: Introduction
Transgender discrimination has long been a problem in American society. While there
were significant advancements during the early 2010’s a major anti-transgender backlash started
after the courts legalized gay marriage in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015 (Cannon,
2022; Mezey, 2019). With the legalization of gay marriage, social acceptance of gays and
lesbians increased as there was no significant impact on most people’s lives (Flores et al., 2020;
Foster et al., 2020; Kazyak & Stange, 2018). Intent on switching the focus in the political culture
war from the more socially accepted issue of gay marriage, both LGBT organizations and
conservatists focused on transgender issues (Cannon, 2022; Mezey, 2019; Perkins & Soto, 2022).
In 2015, groups began introducing transgender discriminatory “bathroom bills” that limited
transgender people from using the restroom based on their preferred gender (Cannon, 2022).
Subsequently, there has been an increase in the number of bills limiting and denying LGBT
rights from 2015 to 2023 (Trans Legislation Tracker, 2023). At the same time, the number of
Americans who believe that gender is immutable has increased, which correlates to antitransgender beliefs (Parker et al., 2022). Studies have found that external political and social
issues influence how a marginalized group can be negatively affected at work (Gardner et al.,
2022; Kim & Shang, 2022). So, with a rise in Anti-transgenderism in the sociopolitical realm,
there may be an effect on the workplace as staff bring in their views and biases with them. This
dissertation examined how sociopolitical events affect the workplace for transgender individuals.
Background of the Problem
Considering the transgender community has seen an increase in anti-transgender laws and
rhetoric in the sociopolitical sphere, the background must include the political, social, and
workplace aspects of discrimination against this population. The background starts after the

16
legalization of gay marriage in 2015 when both pro and anti-transgender forces turned to trans
issues.
Political Forces
The transgender community has a history of being discriminated against in the United
States. However, after Obergefell v. Hodges legalized gay marriage in 2015, there was not a
significant backlash against gays, lesbians, or bisexuals. A campaign of anti-trans laws in the
United States began in 2016; the most notable among them were bathroom laws (GLAAD, 2017;
Mezey, 2019). To gain support for these laws, anti-trans forces used rhetoric to associate the
trans community with the raping of women and molestation of children by classifying
transpeople as predatory men in dresses, focusing solely on trans femme individuals and ignoring
transmasculine individuals whose existence runs counter to conservatism’s fear-based agenda
(Councilor, 2021; GLAAD, 2017; Mezey, 2019; Suarez et al., 2018). These laws were rejected
or diluted due to societal and business backlash. However, this was just the beginning.
In 2016, the federal government rolled back transgender protections, including stopping
the federal government defense of transgender children, revoking transgender policies at school,
reinstating the transgender military ban, revoking federal workplace discrimination guidelines,
expressing support of businesses discriminating against LGBT customers, and forcing inmates to
be housed based on their birth gender. The government also allowed women’s homeless shelters
to deny transwomen based on the predator myth (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; Mezey, 2019).
As politics changed during the 2020 midterms, anti-transgender groups spent over $50
million on anti-trans ads (Human Rights Campaign, 2022). Anti-trans laws increased from 19 in
2019 to 144 in 2021, with the number of bills in 2023 at 560 in June (Trans Legislation Tracker,

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2023). As Trans lives were used as a political wedge issue, there was a rise in anti-transgender
sentiment in society.
Social Forces
As the politicization of trans-identity increased, there was also a rise in anti-TG beliefs
and actions in America. In a 2022 Pew Research Center poll, 32% of respondents agreed that the
TG community had a somewhat or very bad impact on society, the majority of whom were
Republicans (Brown, 2022). At the same time, there has been a growing trend of people who say
that sex is immutable after birth (Parker et al., 2022). The belief that sex cannot be changed
highly correlates to anti-TG attitudes and beliefs (Norton & Herek, 2013). Finally, in a Pew
Research Center study, 66% of Republicans felt that society has gone too far in accepting TG
people (Parker et al., 2022).
These attitudes have actualized actions around TG issues. The most blatant have been
protests and boycotts of companies that show support for the TG community. An example is Bud
Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a TG influencer, to celebrate the first anniversary of
her transition. The backlash was swift. Groups started boycotts and protests of the beer brand,
which resulted in significantly lower sales, loss of their market leader status, and subsequent
employee layoffs (Mayer, 2023). A similar protest was started against Target’s annual Pride sale
as customers rallied against clothing designed for TG people to hide sexual appendages. Target
scaled down its Pride displays due to threats to employees (Phillips, 2023). This protest can be
seen as a direct result of anti-TG backlash coming to the fore of society, as Target has had Pride
displays every year for over a decade. The result was that Target removed some Pride
merchandise (Target, 2023). With a rise in anti-transgender sentiment, there may be an effect on
the workplace for transgender employees.

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The Workplace
While the cultural focus on the TG community is a relatively new phenomenon, trans
discrimination at work has existed for much longer (Berry et al., 2004; Juban & Honoree, 2020).
While the Supreme Court deemed TG discrimination illegal in 2020, there are still issues that
individuals must deal with (Cannon, 2022; Goryunova et al., 2022). The TG population, as
compared to cisgender population, has higher rates of underemployment and makes 76% less in
wages despite having the same or higher educational achievements (Baboolall et al., 2022).
Transpeople have a difficult time finding employment for various reasons, including the distaste
of the hiring manager, worries about interactions with employees or clients, or perceived
illnesses (Van Borm & Baert, 2018). This leads to TG people, especially transwomen, having a
more challenging time finding a job than cisgender, especially if they do not pass (Leppel, 2016).
Once in the workplace, TG people face many issues, such as lack of support,
microaggressions, and hostility (Baboolall et al., 2022; Budge et al., 2010; Chang & Chung,
2015). Many TG women report a marked difference between their careers as men and as TG
women. After their transition, they found their careers stunted, and they could not get promoted
(Goryunova et al., 2022). Many individuals report being misgendered at work or forced to
present in their nonchosen gender (Goryunova et al., 2022). The cumulative effect of these issues
causes depression, anxiety, isolation, and the feeling that they must hide their identity (Budge et
al., 2013).
Statement of the Problem
The problem of research is how the growing anti-TG movement in the political and social
milieu affects workplace culture. Politically, conservative politicians have increased rhetoric and
laws targeting the TG population to increase support among their bases (Cannon, 2022; Mezey,

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2019; Trans Legislation Tracker, 2023). Socially, there has been a rise in beliefs affiliated with
anti-TG beliefs, such as gender is immutable after birth and TG individuals have affected society
negatively coupled with an increase in hate speech, threats, and boycotts against TG causes
(Brown, 2022; Cannon, 2022; Parker et al., 2022). Historically, TG individuals have faced
workplace discrimination and negative repercussions due to their identity (Baboolall et al., 2022;
Berry et al., 2004; Van Borm & Baert, 2018). Since the larger societal context highly influences
workplace environments, it is plausible that such sentiment would have an increasingly negative
impact on the workplace. Considering that this community suffers from high rates of depression,
anxiety, and suicidal impulses compared to the total population, an increase in discrimination
could hurt psychological safety with devastating consequences (Shultz & Shultz, 2013).
Purpose of the Study
With the rise in anti-TG sentiment in the United States, this study researched the effects
on the workplace. Considering that the TG community has high levels of anxiety, depression,
self-harm, and suicide, workplace issues will only exacerbate the problem (Budge et al., 2010;
Clements-Nolle et al., 2006). The study examined the workplace in the modern context of the
increased politicization of the transgender identity. The research focused on workplaceindividual interaction to determine how political laws, rhetoric, and societal violence, prejudice,
and discrimination affect the workplace from the participants’ viewpoint.
Research Questions
This study addressed three research questions:
1. How do sociopolitical changes regarding TG discrimination affect the workplace?
2. How does workplace discrimination manifest for TG employees, if at all?

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3. How do TG individuals’ experiences in the workplace affect their psychological
safety?
Significance of the Study
This study is significant because it provides recommendations in both the societal and
workplace context..
Politics
Recommendations center around legislation and minimizing discrimination and violence.
While political rhetoric is compelling in enabling discriminatory thoughts and actions of likeminded individuals, it is not easy to regulate as politicians have the right to express their
viewpoints and opinions. Therefore, recommendations are highly unlikely to decrease anti-TG
political rhetoric. Besides, a societal shift would likely decrease hate speech by making it less
acceptable and effective.
Workplace
On a smaller but no less important scale, this study focused on the participants’
experiences and how they cope with stigma and transphobia in and out of the workplace. This
study sought to provide recommendations to organizations on ways they can support TG people
to make the workplace more inviting to create an environment that can help mitigate the effects
of outside discrimination, which in turn helps the organization with happier and more productive
workers (Yousuf et al., 2022). Additionally, this study provides recommendations for allies and
advocates to stand against the current backlash.
Definition of Terms
Definitions about and within the trans community are a shifting collage of meanings and
words as the culture shifts. It can be arcane and complex to those not familiar with the

21
community. Because terms and meanings can be very personal, people fear using incorrect
terms. The following are the definitions used for this study.
Bathroom bills/laws seek to base bathroom usage on assigned sex at birth rather than
chosen sex (Mezey, 2019)
Cisgender: Having or relating to a gender identity corresponding to the culturally
determined gender roles for one’s birth sex (American Psychology Association, n.d.)
Cisnormative/cisnormativity: the idea that cisgender people are normal or right and all
other people are not.
Gender-nonconforming is an umbrella term for those who do not follow gender
stereotypes or who expand ideas of gender expression or gender identity (PFLAG, n.d.).
Nonbinary: an adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man
or a woman (Human Rights Campaign, 2023).
Transgender: umbrella is a term for people whose gender identity and expression differ
from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth (Human Rights
Campaign, 2023).
Transition: a series of processes that some TG people may undergo to live more fully as
their true gender (Human Rights Campaign, 2023).
Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations, and Positionality
The central assumption of this study is that the participants are being honest. Due to the
scarcity of TG adults in the U.S. population, this research consisted of a field study of different
individuals who represent different organizations. This means there was very little triangulation
or corroboration of any experience. Therefore, the research was based on participants recounting
their experiences. Honesty also extends to the gender identity of the interviewee. Gender identity

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is an intensely personal subject (L. R. Martinez et al., 2017), so it is ill-considered to ask one to
confirm their identity. This can lead to deception, where participants assume an identity that does
not construe with their beliefs or lifestyle, such as living full-time as a trans individual.
This study has a couple of significant limitations, the largest of which was the limited
variation in participants’ locations and races. Most participants lived in California, with one in
Oregon and one in Arizona. While the intention was to get responses from across the United
States, this did not happen because the primary recruiting tool was a California-based TG group.
Other methods were employed, but they did not yield results. The second limitation was that the
majority of participants were White. While TG people of all races suffer discrimination, it is
worse for people of color as they have to contend with racism and transphobia. While the study
did have Latino and Asian participants, there were no Black participants. The largely White base
of the participants precluded the study of the intersection between race and gender.
For delimitations, this study is focused solely on participants working and living in the
United States for the last 6 years as their preferred self. This study sought to understand how
American cultural and political transphobia affects the workplace. While there are inequities in
other countries, such as Britain (John, 2021), this project only focused on the United States.
Selecting interviewees with 6 years of work experience as their preferred self, helped give time
context to the changes over the last 3 years.
For transparency, I am a mixed-race (Black and White) TG woman. I started transitioning
in 2007 and started living as a woman full-time in 2011. I am out as a TG person in all aspects of
my personal life. However, I am careful with whom I share that information. I also lived most of
my life in the urban areas of California. While I have faced discrimination, it has been relatively
minor compared to others’ experiences. After transitioning, I have continued to grow in my

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career and am currently in a director-level position. All of this means that I am well-informed on
the topic of living as a TG person and can relate to and understand the struggles that TG people
must endure. My experience helped me choose and has guided me in this research. However,
while it may help inform me, it also brings me very close to the issues discussed. This is
something that I was very aware of during this research, which helped me maintain impartiality
and professionalism in the research rigor.
Conclusion
Even though the LGBT community has had significant victories in the last 10 years, such
as the legalization of gay marriage and the illegalization of gender discrimination, there has been
a significant political and cultural backlash against the TG community (Cannon, 2022). This
backlash has worsened both politically and culturally as conservatives lost the White House in
2020, increasing anti-TG laws and protests. In addition, cultural attitudes and beliefs toward TG
people have worsened in the subsequent years. This shift in attitude may influence anti-TG
behavior in the workplace. This research focused on workplace experiences to study if the
coarsening of attitudes affects the workplace. While many studies on TG workplace inequality
have been done in the past, they have just held discrimination as a constant. However, this
current rise in anti-TG sentiment provides an opportunity to study a significant change in cultural
perception in a relatively short time and its effect on workplace discrimination in a marginalized
community.
Organization of the Study
This research in TG discrimination is presented in five sections. The first section is the
background of the issue of the issue. It provides information on the problem, the rise in
sociopolitical transphobia effects on the workplace. This section also provides an overview of

24
the study, including its purpose, significance, research questions, definitions, and the researcher’s
positionality.
Chapter 2 is the literature review. This study required extensive research to select,
understand, and frame the problem. It also required research in theoretical concepts to create a
conceptual framework by which the problem was analyzed. This section presents keywords, the
conceptual framework with the supporting theoretical framework, and a research review of the
literature.
The methodology section, Chapter 3, presents the qualitative research design. This
section provides the research protocol, including questions, information on the sample
population, and how they were recruited. Data collection security, validity, and reliability are
discussed. Most importantly, this section discusses how the data was analyzed thematically and
descriptively for the findings in Chapter 4.
The findings sections detail the study participants’ demographics. Additionally, the
section discusses the findings, arranged by the research question they answer, along with major
themes and subthemes.
Chapter 5 discusses the findings and places them in a broader context of further research
that must be done, as well as their applicability to solving problems. In that effort,
recommendations are submitted on a social and organizational level to improve the workplace
for TG individuals.

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Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
This section covers past research to frame the problems, create the foundation for the
current study, and provide an understanding of the issues concerning TG discrimination. This
includes the theoretical framework used in the study, the conceptual framework from which the
research is built, and the review of the literature used to elucidate the problem.
Search Descriptions
For this study, information was acquired from a variety of sources. As the research
centers on TG work experiences in the modern political and social context, I separated the
information search into current sociopolitical events affecting TG individuals and scholarly
research on their identity and work experiences.
I used Google and the USC library to research current TG events. The initial search
consisted of events that related to TG individuals since the legalization of gay marriage in 2015.
Searches consisted of “Obergefell v. Hodges,” “transgender,” “Bostock transgender,” “gay
marriage legalization transgender,” “anti-transgender laws,” “rhetoric,” “transphobia,” “Trump
transgender,” and “transgender population.” I used this information to understand what events
potentially influenced current views and the work environment. The information gained from
this search was historical, timelines, general descriptive information, and surveys from LGBT
resources.
I gathered academic information from the USC Library and Google Scholar. This
information centered around research on TG work experiences, reasons for transphobia, and TG
stigma with the associated physical and mental effects. Search descriptions included a
combination of the following terms and phrases: “transgender”, “work”, “misgendering”,
“pronouns”, “microaggressions”, “laws”, “psychological safety”, “stress”, “stigma”, “health”,

26
“depression”, “suicide”, and “economics”. This information led to much of the research used to
advance the study.
Theoretical Framework
This study’s theoretical framework is TG theory, which merges feminist theory with
queer theory to create a theory for TG individuals (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010). With feminist
theory pioneering gender studies and queer theory ostensibly focusing on the LGBT community,
but gays and lesbians in particular, TG theory was a natural combination that focused squarely
on the needs and experiences that the trans community face at the intersection of gender and
queerness. The difference between TG theory and the other two is that TG theory focuses on
“how the narratives of lived experiences integrate the socially constructed, embodied, and selfconstructed aspects of identity are essential” (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010, p. 437). Transgender
theory consists of four tenets.
● Communication in a gendered world: Language around gender is often weaponized
against trans individuals. This is often manifested using pronouns that do not match
one’s identity. However, the words real women and biologically male are also used to
invalidate a transperson’s identity.
● Transphobia and gender identity disorder: While a medical diagnosis is often
necessary to receive treatments such as hormones and surgeries, the medical aspect is
often weaponized against TG people. People often refer to trans people as sick or
mentally ill due to their gender identification. This can be even worse by trans broken
arm syndrome, which is when a trans person has a medical issue that stems from trans
discrimination yet is attributed to trans-identity rather than mistreatment (Wall et al.,
2023).

27
● Lived experiences and transcendent stories: Transgender theory focuses on the
experiences and stories unique to the TG experience of navigating between their
physical and constructed identities (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010). This is especially
important as cisnormativity equates one physical and gender identity as the same as
seen with bathroom bills.
● Coalition building with intersectional identities: Considering the differing
positionalities of people under the umbrella term TG, there should be a shared
coalition based upon based on gender transgression in a cisnormative world. (Nagoshi
& Brzuzy, 2010).
With TG theory in mind, this study focused on participants and their experiences as TG
individuals. Part of those discussions will focus on communication and reactions from other
people. The aim was to get as broad a cross-section of the community as possible to look at
intersectional differences and commonalities.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework, as seen in Figure 1, for this study is grounded in TG theory.
The research is a qualitative study that centered on the participants’ lived experiences to hear
from TG individuals that are affected by political and social discourse on transgenderism. In this
context, the research focused on the other three aspects of TG theory (communication, gender
identity, intersectionality) along with the individuals’ work environment to analyze their
experiences and provide recommendations for businesses and society to support TG individuals.
Each of these factors was researched, as explained in the next section.
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

28
Literature Review
The literature review focuses on studies about transgender people's workplace
experiences and psychological safety. The workplace section includes hiring and transitioning
on the job. The psychological safety portion focuses on the types and effects of long-term
discrimination.
Work and the Transgender Identity
There are many aspects of work that TG people must navigate. From hiring to the daily
work to leaving the job, they must navigate often discriminatory, if not outright hostile
situations. This section will cover how culture can influence the workplace and the current
surveys on TG experience, hiring, transitioning, and discrimination at work.
Culture’s Influence on the Workplace
Culture influences workplaces, which can be especially true for minority-status
employees. As anti-TG sentiments grow, there can be a subsequent impact on the work
Communication in a
Gendered World
• Pronouns
• Statements about Transgender People
• Misgendering
Gender Identity
• Transphobia
• Gender Expression at Work
• Gender Expression Socially
• Transitioning
Intersectionality
• Gender Identity
• Race
• Other
Work Factors
• Environment
• Attitudes Towards Transgender People
• Psychological Safety
• Relationships
• Opportunities
Transgender Theory
Lived Experiences at Work
in Current Sociopolitical
Culture

29
environment. Kartolo and Kwantes (2019) conducted a quantitative survey study with 176
American employees and found a positive correlation between an employee’s perceived societal
discrimination and their perceived workplace discrimination. Widner and Chicoine (2011) found
that applicants with Arabic surnames were less likely to be interviewed for positions after the
9/11 attacks. More recently, studies have examined Asian employee discrimination during
COVID-19. Gardner et al. (2022) found that 22.5% of the Asians working in the United States
had incidents due to pandemic-related racism. Participants in a study on Asian workplace
violence due to the pandemic reported microaggression (Kim & Shang, 2022). Discrimination
increased during the pandemic due to stereotypes, physical violence, and identity denial, all
issues that TG employees face in the workplace.
For the TG community in particular, Pepper and Lorah (2008) posited that social
discrimination affected the workplace in their research on how career counselors can help trans
individuals navigate the workplace. Nadarajah et al. researched the LGBT policies of firms in
collectivist states versus individualistic states. They found that there was a negative correlation
between how individualistic a state was and the firm’s LGBT policies. So, it would be
reasonable that TG employment experience has become more discriminatory as the trans
community has been maligned since gay marriage became legal in 2015.
Discrimination
Transgender employees have faced a variety of workplace discriminatory issues even
before the current sociopolitical climate. The 2015 National Transgender Discrimination Survey
(NTDS-2015) collected surveys from 6,450 TG and gender-nonconforming individuals. The
employment section of the survey found that TG individuals were twice as likely to be
unemployed as compared to the general population. Transgender individuals of color were four

30
times as likely. Ninety percent of the respondents reported discrimination, which included
harassment, having their trans status disclosed to others, misgendering, being asked inappropriate
questions, being denied bathroom usage, and/or being physically or sexually attacked at work.
Goryunova et al. (2022) conducted a qualitative study of TG workplace experience based on the
NTDS-2015 data and posited that cissexism (the narrative that people should keep their birth
gender) explained many of the discriminatory experiences outlined in the NTDS-2015. The
participants shared experiences similar to those in the NTDS survey, such as hiding their identity
for safety, being misgendered, not receiving follow-up calls after interviews, being denied
promotions, and being fired for their identity expression.
Shannon (2022) analyzed the NTDS-2015 data and found that TG people did not earn as
much as cisgender people. Interestingly, the study did note that FTM received better pay the
earlier they transitioned. In comparison, MTF received better pay the later they transitioned due
to the social premium on being male and its accompanying opportunities. Davidson (2016) used
the NTDS-2015 data to study how nonbinary TG experiences differed. They concluded that
nonbinary participants born as male were less likely to be hired, but those born as women faced
more discrimination while on the job.
In 2021, the McKinsey Institute surveyed TG and cisgender participants about their work
experience (Baboolall et al., 2022) and found that TG adults were twice as likely to be
unemployed as adults and more likely to work in the food or retail industry and make less money
regardless of education level (more so if they are a person of color) versus cisgender adults.
Isolation and exclusion were major themes in the study, as TG participants felt less safe, had to
hide their identity, and felt like they would have a hard time finding another job. Finally, the
survey found that trans participants felt that they were less likely to be promoted due to their

31
gender. This feeling was boosted by the fact that trans participants were three times more likely
to be in entry-level positions but were only half as likely to be managers. In addition, 69% of the
participants disagreed that management “looked/seem liked them” versus 38% of the cisgender
participants.
Hiring
Getting hired can be difficult for TG people. They are 1.7 times as likely to be
unemployed (Baboolall et al., 2022). Karen Leppel’s (2016) study into the labor force status of
trans individuals found that TG labor force participation rates were higher than the average
populace regardless of education level. Granberg et al. (2020) performed a correspondence study
where they submitted 2,224 job applications. The test group of applications denoted that the
applicant was TG. While the study did not find discrimination in mixed-gender jobs, it did find
that favorable responses were significantly lower for TG applicants in gendered jobs.
There have been several studies into the reasons for hiring discrimination. Suarez et al.
(2018) posited that the cause is due to cisnormativity. They use the bodies out of place theory,
which states that nontraditional bodies disrupt the workplace when designated for a different
dominant type, cis-sexual individuals in this case. Other studies have found that hiring managers
may fear customer or staff backlash. Hart and Hart (2018) interviewed 14 school leaders, and the
dominant concern when hiring TG teachers was community backlash. Van Borm and Baert
(2018) and Van Borm et al. (2020) researched TG hiring discrimination with qualitative
interviews. Both studies concluded that while the employers themselves may not personally have
concerns with working with trans-individuals, they were concerned with coworkers’ responses
and customers’ backlash. In addition, both studies also cited concerns with the mental and
physical health of trans employees due to the social stigma of TG individuals being ill. Reed et

32
al. (2015) found similar mental health stigma in the hiring process. Their study had applicants
provide hiring recommendations based on interview vignettes. The study found that there was a
higher perception of mental health stigma among TG men contributed significantly to a lack of
recommendations. They found a weaker link with TG women, suggesting that there are other
factors involved.
Transitioning
While getting a job as a TG individual may be difficult, transitioning on the job is also
fraught with challenges. Having socialized as their birth gender at work, transitioning to their
preferred gender means becoming reacquainted with their work community. While transitioning
takes different forms, the process can include name changes, physical changes due to hormones
or surgery, clothing preference changes, and pronoun changes. Fein et al. (2017) examined the
most important factors for trans men and women. For men, the factors were changing the way of
dress, name change, hormone therapy, legal gender change, speech therapy, and breast
reconstruction. For women, the factors were legal name and gender change, breast augmentation,
facial surgery to look more feminine, and electrolysis to remove face and body hair. This means
that during transitioning, a person’s physical look and presentation may change drastically.
However, changes are not just physical, as a transitioning person may undergo mental
changes. De Vries and Sojka’s (2022) study of six multiracial TG individuals found that they had
to not only mentally shift to a new gender but also a new gender based on their ethnicity. Auer et
al. (2014) conducted a qualitative study that found that 36% of 115 transwomen interviewed
changed their sexual orientation, specifically the gender(s) to which they were attracted. KatzWise and Budge (2015) created a model of transitioning for transwomen who transition in
midlife. The model details the cognitive and interpersonal processes through the three stages of

33
development (early, middle, late) of the new trans identity. This process moves through
identifying the need to transition from changing their perception of self to changing their outlook
on life. With the changes associated with transitioning, TG people are particularly vulnerable.
However, in a supportive environment, transitioned employees often support higher job
satisfaction, as Drydakis (2017) found.
Psychological Safety and the Trans Individual
Psychological safety in the context of this article is the belief that an environment is safe
for an employee to undergo interpersonal risk-taking; such an environment fosters an
environment where employees feel free to ask questions, fail, and express themselves at work.
(Edmundson, 1999). Considering that TG individuals face issues of discrimination, stigma, fear,
hostile social structures, and a variety of other issues, they tend to have some psychological
trauma that manifests in a variety of ways. Considering that people spend a significant portion of
their lives at work, the workplace can contribute to this trauma. As shown previously, TG
individuals have reported microaggressions, misgendering, discriminatory statements, and
having to conceal their identity while at work. Each of these forms of harassment has deleterious
effects, which may ultimately lead to issues of stigma, anxiety, depression, and suicide. These
effects were lessened by protective factors such as strong self-identity and strong social support
networks.
Effects of Misgendering
Misgendering is the act of purpose identifying someone as a gender other than their
preferred gender. It is common to call a transwoman by male pronouns, he/him, or call a
transman by female pronouns, she/her. McLemore (2015) conducted a two-stage online study to
study the effects of misgendering. The first study contained 115 participants, and the second had

34
134 participants. The study shows that the frequency of being misgendered was associated with
higher social anxiety about the respondents’ looks, less authenticity, less identity strength, and
less identity coherence. This results in the participants striving to enhance themselves to be
accepted as their chosen gender. McLemore (2018) studied the effects of misgendering with 410
TG participants. His study showed that the perceived frequency of and the amount of stigma
from being misgendered positively correlated with reported psychological distress factors of
depression, anxiety, and stress. Overall, misgendering frequency and the stigma felt can impact
the lives of TG individuals, especially those who are lonely or have low self-esteem.
Effects of Microaggressions
Transgender individuals must often deal with microaggressions from others, either
intentionally or unintentionally, which tends to cause stress and anxiety. Microaggressions are
brief verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities that are hostile to a certain community.
These slights are often unintentional but can be used to make someone feel uncomfortable (Sue
et al., 2007). Microaggressions contribute to a variety of negative mental outcomes common in
the TG community. The frequency of microaggressions is associated with the TG individual’s
income and how closely their chosen gender presentation matches societal expectation (Parr &
Howe, 2021). Nadal et al. (2012) categorized 12 types of microaggressions in their qualitative
study, as can be seen in Table 1. Considering the multiple forms that microaggressions can take
and the frequency in which they can occur, microaggressions have very real effects. Nadal et al.
noted multiple negative emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions. Emotional reactions to
microaggressions include betrayal, distress, hopelessness, exhaustion, and feeling invalidated in
their gender. Cognitive reactions included rationalization, vigilance, and self-preservation.
Behavioral reactions included direct and indirect confrontation, appeasing people, or

35
withdrawing from the situation. Thus, it is no surprise that microaggressions can have very
serious consequences. Parr and Howe (2021) stated that the frequency and the emotional impact
of microaggressions could have a 150% to 525% increase in sadness, hopelessness, social
withdrawal, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts. While misgendering and microaggressions
alone can have serious negative outcomes, the totality of TG discrimination can have serious
repercussions.
Psychological Repercussions of Discrimination
Several studies have looked at the cumulative mental effects of the discrimination that
TG individuals must face in their lives. Other research has examined suicide, depression,
anxiety, internalized transphobia, and loneliness.
Suicide
One of the worst outcomes of the trauma is suicide. Clements-Noelle et al. (2006)
interviewed 515 TG participants (392 transwomen, 123 transmen) in San Francisco, CA. Thirtytwo percent of the respondents admitted to attempting suicide. Among the major factors cited for
the attempts were gender-based discrimination and victimization. Kota et al. (2020) interviewed
92 transwomen in Atlanta, GA. 33% reported suicidal ideations mostly due to sexual abuse,
anxiety, and verbal abuse. In a Danish study, Erlangsen (2023) studied the medical records of
6,657,246 individuals who were born male from 1980 to 2021. The study found that TG
individuals were seven times (498 versus 71 attempts per 100,000 person-years) more likely to
attempt suicide and 3.6 (75 versus 21 deaths per 100,000 person-years) times more likely to die
by suicide than cisgender individuals. Since this was a study of medical records, no factors were
given for the suicides. Even if discrimination does not result in suicide, it can still have other
effects on TG individuals’ health.

36
Table 1
Types of Microaggressions with Examples
Type of microaggressions Example
Use of transphobic and/or incorrectly
gendered terminology,
Use of incorrect pronouns or descriptors (he/she, it,
shemale).
Assumption of universal TG
experience
Assuming that TG women are sex workers.
Assuming that TG should follow gender-normative
practices.
Exoticization People who only want to have sex with a TG
individual due to the individual’s TG status.
Discomfort/ disapproval of TG
experience
People change behavior once they learn of one’s TG
status.
Endorsement of gender-normative and
binary culture or behaviors
Advising a TG person that they should dress and
present in a gender-normative manner. Such as,
transwomen should work in traditionally feminine
jobs, or transmen should not wear makeup.
Denial of the existence of transphobia A person stating that they are not transphobic while
exhibiting transphobic behavior.
Assumption of sexual pathology or
abnormality
Assuming TG people are pretending in order to trick
or sexually assault others.
Assuming TG people have HIV.
Physical threat or harassment Threatening to hurt a TG person or committing harm
to them.
Denial of individual transphobia Minimizing or invalidating a transperson’s
experience of transphobia.
Denial of personal body privacy Outing someone as TG or asking the person
questions about their genitals or surgery
Familial microaggressions Unlike other forms, this microaggression centers
around the decision to transition, pronouns, and
presentation, usually with discomfort or judgment.
Systemic and environmental
microaggressions
Government or community discrimination, such as
laws, bathroom policies, medical systems, and
identification issues
Note. Adapted from “Interpersonal and Systemic Microaggressions Toward Transgender People:
Implications for Counseling” by K. Nadal, A. Skolnik, and Y. Wong, 2012. Journal of LGBT
Issues in Counseling, 6(1), 55–82. (https://doi.org/10.1080/15538605.2012.648583). Copyright
2012 by Taylor & Francis Group.

37
Internalized Transphobia and Shame
As TG individuals experience discrimination throughout their lives, they can begin to
internalize shame and transphobia as they take in the negative messages that they are bombarded
with daily. This internalized transphobia has four dimensions, according to Bockting et al.
(2020): lack of pride in TG identity, investment in passing as a cisgender person, alienation from
other TG individuals, and shame. Bockting et al. also found, along with Austin and Goodman
(2017), that internalized transphobia was associated negatively with self-esteem. The workplace
can exacerbate transphobia experiences, as Mizock and Mueser (2014) noted that employed TG
individuals reported higher levels of internalized transphobia than unemployed TG individuals.
Thus, the workplace can be harmful to TG employees’ mental health, as several studies show
that internalized transphobia can have severe consequences. Lee et al. (2020) study of 207 South
Korean TG adults found that internalized transphobia was positively associated with depression,
suicidal ideations, and suicidal attempts. Barr et al. (2022) found that internalized transphobia
was a factor in post-traumatic stress disorder in TG individuals. Scandurra et al. (2018) showed
that internalized transphobia was a mediator between TG discrimination and anxiety.
Anxiety, Depression, and Stigma
While singular types of discrimination and stressors are hazardous to TG individuals, the
cumulative effects are worse. They can cause depression, anxiety, and loneliness as TG people
cope with indignities daily. Budge et al. (2013) found that depression and anxiety were higher in
the TG community as opposed to the general community. They ascribe the difference to a high
level of avoidant coping skills such as overeating, drinking, minimization, and detachment.
Puckett et al. (2020) had similar findings in that depression and anxiety were positively
correlated with the frequency of discrimination. In this study, the participants’ main coping

38
mechanisms were internalization of blame or detachment. Finally, Mustanski et al. (2016) found
that LGBT individuals with high or increasing levels of discrimination were more likely to
display depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. All three studies support that an increase in
work discrimination can cause an increase in mental health issues for TG employees.
Conclusion
This section has reviewed the search methodology of the articles referenced, the
theoretical framework of TG theory, the conceptual framework, and the literature review. The
literature review covered four main sections relevant to this dissertation: laws and politics,
cultural attitudes toward the TG community, work aspects of being TG, and the psychological
effects of discrimination. The work section extensively covered how culture can affect the
workplace, thus supporting that there may be a rise in workplace discrimination as cultural
transphobia increases. However, without an increase in discrimination, research has found that
TG employees face discrimination at work, in the hiring process, and during transitioning
genders. Finally, the chapter covered the psychological effects of individual stressors,
misgendering, microaggressions, and cumulative discrimination. These effects were anxiety,
stress, internalized transphobia, depression, and suicide. Considering the amount of one’s
lifetime spent in the workplace, a discriminatory workplace can have a significant impact on
mental health.

39
Chapter Three: Methodology
This chapter explains the research methodology used to prepare for the study. It covers
the research design, questions, and settings to understand the basis for the research decisions.
The chapter also explains the sample population, the criteria, and the method of choosing
individuals in detail. Finally, it explains how the data were collected, kept secure, and
confidential. Additionally, this section describes how the data were analyzed once received.
Research Design
This research was a phenomenological qualitative field study due to the national nature of
the subject. Phenomenological studies focus on a group with a shared experience to find the
essence of the experience (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). These studies also elicit strong emotions
from the participants sharing their experiences. Due to its relatively short period, the current TG
backlash can be seen as a phenomenon. Conducting a phenomenological study helped share the
experiences that the participants lived through as they went about their lives and thus provided
understanding.
A tenet of TG theory is to focus on lived experiences (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010). The
best way to focus on TG people’s experiences is to discuss them to derive meaning and
understanding of how they were affected by the current backlash. Therefore, I chose the
qualitative method since it helps understand the meaning that people construct from their
experiences (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The qualitative approach allowed for a more nuanced
and robust analysis of the TG experience.
The research was a field study due to the relatively small percentage of TG employees. A
large concentration of TG people in an organization would be difficult since TG adults make up

40
0.5% of the US population (Herman et al., 2022). Besides, partnering with a company may have
limited participation or information due to fears of retribution.
The interviews used an interview protocol (see Appendix C), which was semi-structured,
which allowed participants to share their experiences as they saw fit and bring in other items that
I did not consider. This is as opposed to a structured format, which would have been too stifling
for free conversation, or an unstructured format, which would have made the interviews
challenging to track and analyze (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). There were 19 interviews for a
more extensive analysis across gender presentation (transmen, transwomen, and nonbinary). The
interviews were 45 to 60 minutes long, with 13 questions based on research questions. Appendix
C shows the questions.
Research Questions
Considering the rise in transphobia in the American culture driven by political forces,
there may be a rise in TG discrimination in the workplace. This study looked at all three realms
of the political, social, and workplace to see how they affected the TG individual. With this
purpose in mind, the research questions must consider all three aspects of the TG person.
Therefore, the research questions are as follows.
1. How do the sociopolitical changes affect the workplace regarding TG discrimination?
2. How does workplace discrimination manifest for TG employees, if at all?
3. How do TG individuals’ experiences in the workplace affect their psychological
safety?
Research Setting
Due to the limited concentration of TG workers in one business, the research was a field
study to gain broad experience from varying industries. Therefore, the interviews took place

41
outside of a workplace setting. While face-to-face interviews would have been preferable, Zoom
was used for convenience as the participants lived in various places. This allowed for a more
robust investigation as I am based in Los Angeles, California, so research in this area alone
would skew the results.
I utilized Zoom to ensure flexibility for the participants. The participants could take part
in the interview in a familiar setting. Interviews based on discrimination and prejudice can elicit
emotional responses from subjects. By having the ability to choose the location from which to
answer questions, participants were better able to select a setting that would support them
emotionally and allow them to recover from any emotional turmoil that the interview prompted.
Participants
The participant section explains how the study population was determined and the size of
the accessible populations. Then, the chapter explains how individual participants were sampled
and recruited for the study.
Target and Accessible Population
This research was a qualitative field study, as a tenet of TG theory is a focus on lived
experiences (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010). It was a field study since a large concentration of TG
individuals in a company would have been challenging to find, as TG adults make up 0.5% of
the U.S. population (Herman et al., 2022). Currently, in the United States, there are
approximately 1,300,000 TG adults (Herman et al., 2022).
For this study, I worked with an LGBT organization, an online and in-person community
for TG individuals. The group has approximately 8,000 self-registered adult members
countrywide. Additionally, I used social media platforms, Facebook and LinkedIn, to post
solicitation in TG-focused groups.

42
Sample
The sample comprised 19 members of the LGBT organization’s online TG support
group. The sample was chosen based on the sample criteria, location, and demographics to
provide as much diversity to the sample as possible (see sample method section).
Sample Method
This study used purposeful sampling based on two levels of selection. The first level was
based on the selection criteria. The second level was based on geographic locations. Finally,
demographic data were analyzed to ensure the diversity of participants in terms of race and age.
The first-level criteria were that participants had to be TG adults, as this population is critical to
the research problem of practice. In addition, adults have more work experience to provide
context to current trends. Secondly, they had to live and work in the United States. This study
focused on the current sociopolitical culture of the United States. While TG people have the
same issues in other countries, this research focused on U.S. culture for accuracy due to my
familiarity with it. Lastly, the study sought TG people with work experiences beginning from
2017 or earlier. This period centers around 2020, when conservatives rapidly increased their antiTG agenda (Cannon, 2022) and the illegalization of TG workplace discrimination. This criterion
ensured the selection of participants who could provide context to conditions before and after
2020.
For the second level of selection, getting voices from various locations, gender
presentation, and races was essential. Therefore, I sought participants based on these secondary
criteria with the goal of diversity.

43
Recruitment
Once the institutional review board approved the study, I sent a mass recruitment email
(Appendix A) to the TG group. I also sent posts to various social media groups on LinkedIn and
Facebook. The letter and posts explained the study, stated the criterion, and asked individuals to
respond to a link in Qualtrics if they were interested in participating. Individuals who went to the
link first saw a consent page (Appendix D) where they could accept or decline. Those who
declined were thanked and exited from the survey.
Those who accepted the consent received a demographic survey to complete (Appendix
B). I then gathered the survey answers and analyzed them. Unfortunately, the survey was hacked
with bots that auto filled it, most likely due to the social media posts. This resulted in over
11,000 survey replies. I then scrubbed out the false surveys. Fortunately, the bots replied with
email names and random numbers and letters. Additionally, since the gender category had no set
replies so that the participants could use their preferred nomenclature, the bots only answered
male or female. This made it easy to sort and filter out these replies down to close to 80 replies.
Of these replies, participants were selected based on the primary and secondary criteria listed. I
sent emails to 20 people (Appendix E) to ask if they wanted to participate in the study. I saved
the information on the rest of the applicants in case they were needed.
Unfortunately, they were needed as certain subjects exhibited the same pattern during the
interviews. Four participants had African accents, refused to turn their cameras on, and had very
little knowledge of the TG community or its context in the United States’ current sociopolitical
climate. One stated that they were from Florida and that the culture was very accepting even
though the governor was signing anti-LGBT laws at the time. So, I went back to the metadata
and found similarities. These participants all had emails containing the format, full first name,

44
full last name, and random numbers. Furthermore, many had the same longitudinal and
latitudinal coordinates. So, all responses that match this description were filtered and deleted.
This left about 26 people to choose from. They all came from the TG group, which is why the
locational and racial diversity was limited.
Data Collection
This study had two data collection points: the demographic survey and the interview
protocol. Each process helped answer the research questions (Table 2). As the study progressed,
I used the demographic data and the interviews for all research questions due to the experiential
difference between the gender identities. Both processes were valuable ways to collect data. I
used demographic data to ensure the diversification of participants to get a wide range of
experiences from different positionalities. In addition, demographics were used during the
analysis to identify differences based on positionalities. I used the interview protocol to
understand the participants’ experiences and feelings so that they could be analyzed to provide
recommendations on creating a psychologically safe workplace.
Table 2
Process and Research Questions
Research question Demographic
data
Interview
protocol
How do the sociopolitical changes affect the workplace
regarding TG discrimination?
X X
How does workplace discrimination manifest for TG
employees, if at all?
X X
How do TG individuals’ experiences in the workplace
affect their psychological safety?
X X

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Demographic Survey
I sent a short demographic survey (Appendix A) to help select participants based on the
sample’s primary and secondary criteria. The primary criteria pertained to TG adults who have
lived and worked in the United States since 2017. The secondary criteria addressed location,
race, and gender identity. Demographics include questions focused on gender description, work
experience, and location. Additionally, I included race to find different participants and analyze
racial intersectionality. Unfortunately, race was not a driving factor due to participants being
predominantly White. While race was not a major theme, the intersectionality of gender
presentation and being TG was a major theme. This was important as intersectionality is
essential in TG theory (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010).
Interview Protocol
The interviews used an interview protocol (see Appendix C), which was semi-structured
to allow participants to share their experiences as they saw fit and bring in other items that I did
not consider. This is as opposed to a structured format, which would have been too stifling for
free conversation, or an unstructured format, which would make the interviews challenging to
track and analyze (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The 19 interviews lasted between 45 and 60
minutes and consisted of 13 questions based on the research questions. There were follow-up
questions as we explored varying topics that spontaneously arose.
Procedures
The following presents the procedures I engaged in once I chose the participants. The
interviews were scheduled and held on Zoom at an agreed-upon time with the participants. Via
the interview script, there were some pleasantries where I introduced myself, stated my
background, and went over the purpose of the study and their ability to quit or not answer

46
questions as they see fit. I asked the participants if they had any questions, which I then
answered. The interview began once the pleasantries and formalities were completed.
Confidentiality Parameters
A critical aspect of this research was confidentiality. This subject was highly personal to
the participants, and many expressed concerns about confidentiality. Discussing jobs and identity
can be fraught with issues. If the employer could have found out about the interviews, people
would have hesitated to discuss negative aspects of the workplace for fear of repercussions. At
the same time, the participants might let only some aspects of their gender identity out to specific
groups. For instance, a person can present as a male at work while presenting as female to
friends due to fears of rejection, which was a situation two participants expressed. To ensure
trust, I took measures to ensure that the participant’s data were not compromised. One participant
was so concerned with privacy that they asked to stop the interview midway through. At that
point, I stopped the recording and transcription. Then, I deleted all information from the
databases, including scheduling software and Qualtrics data.
Raw Data
Confidentiality was part of the design for every step of the research. It started with the
demographic survey. The demographic survey asked only questions pertinent to the research. All
questions were in service of the research criteria. Therefore, it asked for no extraneous
information that could help identify the person, such as a direct address or name of the company
where they work. Once the participants agreed to the interview, they received a second number
based on the order of participation (Participant 1, Participant 2, etc.). After conducting the
interviews, I used the participant numbering system to identify the video and transcripts.

47
Data Analysis and Reporting
Ensuring the data remained confidential was equally essential when reporting the results
and analysis. For this process, I replaced the participants’ numbers with pseudonyms on
transcripts and demographics. Therefore, there were no documents that directly connected to the
corresponding participant. At that point, I scrubbed transcripts of all personal information. This
included exact neighborhoods, names, companies, and organizations mentioned. I amended all to
general statements. After an initial analysis, as part of the validation process, I used member
checking, the process of sending a preliminary analysis of an interview to the participant
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this manner, the participant checked for accuracy and
confidentiality to provide feedback and clarification. Any issues that the participant had with
confidentiality were swiftly corrected or deleted as needed.
Data Management
Data management was critical to maintaining confidentiality. I stored all data on a
desktop computer and a cloud drive. I used the computer at home. Therefore, there was little
chance of it being lost or stolen. The computer was password-protected so that the other
household members could not access the information. I used Google Cloud Drive with twofactor authentication through Duo Security by Cisco for data redundancy and security. The
second factor was an authorization request on my cellphone. I kept personal information on the
computer. I kept all study information on Google Drive. In this manner, if either system were
hacked, the participants’ information would not be compromised. Only I had access and
passwords to the drives and the computer. Thus, the only time the information was together was
when I was actively working on the project.

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Table 3
Data Locations
Information Computer Google Drive
Contact information X
Participant code key X
Demographics data X
Interview videos X
Interview transcripts X
Data analysis X
Encryption
I encrypted all data at two levels. I used the built-in Microsoft Word function to encrypt
all data on the personal computer. Word allows the files to be encrypted using their proprietary
algorithm, BitLocker (Microsoft, 2023). In addition, the encryption password used current
guidelines to create a strong password that could not be easily guessed. Between the encryption
and the password, it would have been difficult to break into the files on the computer. As for the
cloud-based servers, Google Drive, Google states that all information on the cloud is encrypted
at rest and in transit (sent or received from the drive), which is encrypted using AES256-bit
encryption (Google, n.d.).
Dissemination of Findings
Since this was a field research project, there was no organization or business that would
receive the findings. The research was submitted to the University of Southern California as
required for graduation. It was added to the university’s academic library for school associates to
access. In addition, I shared the research with all who assisted in this study, including the
participants who desired to read it. Finally, some representatives at a prominent LGBT nonprofit

49
expressed interest in the research. Otherwise, I will share the research with others who are
interested.
Data Analysis
Once I completed the interviews, I analyzed the data. This section discusses the
descriptive and thematic analysis that I completed for the research. I completed a descriptive
analysis of the demographics of all 19 participants so that I could cross-check the information
with demographics to look for groupings. I completed a thematic analysis around the political,
social, and workplace research layers. The analysis was aided by NVivo version 1.7.1 for coding
and organizing themes. This section discusses steps to ensure the information was internally and
externally valid and reliable.
Descriptive Analysis
I used descriptive analysis for the interview data. While there are different types of
descriptive analytics, this study used frequency as the other types, dispersion, central tendencies,
and position, are better suited for larger data sets (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). With only 19
participants, the frequency of occurrences was suitable for looking at specific themes connected
to a distinct demographic trait, such as gender identification or race.
Demographic Data
I scrubbed the demographic data of all personal information and assigned a participant
code. Then, I tabulated the frequency of participants under each demographic trait to check the
number of participants in each category. I took this step for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
Thematic analysis is a systematic approach to organizing data to find common themes
between multiple participants in a qualitative study (Nowell et al., 2017). I used thematic

50
analysis to determine common themes from the interviewees to create findings and conclusions.
This study utilized a six-phase process (Nowell et al., 2017) with the data analysis software
NVivo v. 1.7.1 to perform the analysis. Braun and Clarke developed the six steps to create a
clear guideline on how to perform thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The following
sections will discuss the phases.
Phase 1: Getting Familiar with the Data
The process started by conducting a thorough and extended review of each participant’s
interview transcripts and notes regarding the research questions. I reviewed the data to look for
commonalities that could be organized and collated for the next section. The coding formation
started at this step as I reviewed the data.
Phase 2: Generating Initial Codes
During the review, common themes emerged. Using NVivo, I manually coded each
transcript while creating a codebook with codes that represented different aspects that emerged
in the interviews. The coding was data-driven because, while the research centers around the
research questions, the aspects discussed varied with each participant. Each code was unique,
with distinct boundaries. This avoided overlapping, which could have confused the analysis.
Step 3: Searching for Themes
Once the coding was completed and organized, I organized the data into themes based on
the codes. The themes are based on research questions and theory. I collected the codes into one
or more themes or subthemes based on where the codes fit. The codes used for the themes can be
found in each finding.

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Step 4: Reviewing the Themes
Once I developed the initial themes, I reviewed and modified the themes based on the
research questions. The review consisted of two steps. The first step was to review each theme’s
data to ensure they fit together. If they did not, they were modified as needed. I repeated this
process with each theme. The second step was to review all data to ensure the themes aligned
with the codes and assign any missed data to themes. This helped ensure that the analysis aligned
with the study for validity and reliability.
Step 5: Defining and Naming the Themes
This step refined the themes. Then, I changed names to accurately describe the themes
and modified information in the themes to ensure consistency.
Step 6: Produce a Report
Finally, I completed a report on the analysis. This report included themes, their
definition, and stories with data extracts as necessary for support. I then used this information as
the basis for the findings section of this paper.
Reliability
A reliable study is one where the findings can be replicated in another study under similar
circumstances (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This cannot be easy in qualitative studies as the
human condition is ever-changing since societal views and standards have evolved. Therefore,
qualitative studies must rely on dependability and confirmability to establish trust in the findings.
Dependability
Dependability ensures that all study portions are accounted for, traced, and logged
(Nowell et al., 2017). In other words, it means ensuring that the research is auditable. The data
can be audited by making it readily available if there are any questions as to the dependability of

52
the study. However, dependability also includes the researcher’s reflexivity (Tobin & Begley,
2004). By recording a self-account of the research, the researcher can keep track of potential
biases or assumptions. Considering the nature of the research and my positionality, I kept a
personal account of both internal and external dialogues. While I was experiencing challenges
similar to those the participants expressed, this log helped separate personal life from the
research. Thus, the log helped mitigate biases based on positionality by showing that I was aware
of conflicts and how I came to conclusions.
Confirmability
If another person can look at the same dataset and come to similar conclusions, then the
study has confirmability (Tobin & Begley, 2004). Confirmability for this study was achieved by
ensuring that all aspects of the research build on each other to support the study of the research
questions. Therefore, each section explained why I chose research methods, frameworks, and
analyses to create a congruent study. This decision-making transparency allows for
understanding the selection of items (Nowell et al., 2017). The analysis, findings, and
recommendations were built on this framework to make the whole study congruent.
Validity
For a study to be trustworthy, it must be considered valid. Validity is a congruence
between the study’s accuracy, as seen from the viewpoints of the researcher, the participants, and
the audience (Nowell et al., 2017). In this manner, there are two types of validity (Tobin &
Begley, 2004). First, there is internal validity, which is the alignment between the participants
and the researcher. The second is transferability, the alignment between the researcher and the
reader for other applications. This section discusses how validity was maintained.

53
Credibility
Credibility ensures that the researcher accurately represents the participants’ views
(Tobin & Begley, 2004). There are several ways to ensure that a study is credible. For this study,
member checking and adequate engagement ensured credibility. Member checking is taking the
preliminary analysis of an interview and presenting it to the subject to get confirmation that the
analysis is accurate (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). After each interview, I wrote the preliminary
findings and sent them to the participants. All subjects validated their analysis, so they were
included. Some had minor corrections and updates, which I included in the transcripts and
analysis. The second strategy used was adequate engagement, which is conducting enough
interviews to reach saturation, where each new interview repeats the same information. This
strategy included looking for negative cases contrary to what was expected (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). By conducting 19 interviews across different gender identities, a whole picture emerged
of the TG experience based on gender presentation. As seen in the findings, there were multiple
examples for each finding.
Transferability
Transferability is if a study can be applied to other situations. For instance, in this study,
the research into the workplace experiences of Arab Americans during 9/11 and Asians during
COVID-19 was conducted to see how minorities are affected by a massive change in a short
period. I hope this study can add to the discussion of how social forces affect employment for
marginalized communities. For this study to be transferable for this purpose or as other
researchers deem fit, the study has a detailed description of the interviews, with quotes and
detailed findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this manner, other researchers can use this
research to suit their study topic.

54
Summary
This section covered the data analysis portion of the study, including the processes for
analysis and ensuring the study’s trustworthiness. I conducted a descriptive and thematic analysis
to create findings from the qualitative interview. At the same time, I used processes such as
member checking, adequate engagement, and detailed descriptions to ensure the study’s validity.
Both ensured that the final analysis and findings were accurate and transparent.

55
Chapter Four: Results or Findings
I recruited participants through a California-based TG social group and social media. The
recruitment literature linked participants to a demographic survey. Once the demographics were
analyzed, I selected interviewees with diverse positionalities and experiences. I conducted oneon-one interviews with each participant. I then edited the transcripts for clarity and privacy and
conducted a thematic analysis of the transcripts, starting with open coding to find emergent
topics. Once coded, I analyzed the information for themes and findings. This section will present
the participants’ demographics and the findings for the research questions.
Demographics
For this study, I interviewed 24 people. One participant asked to be removed from the
study midway through the interview, so I deleted their data. I removed four participants for not
meeting the requirements. Therefore, I used 19 interviews for the analysis. I recruited all
participants via the California organization, so most (17) lived and worked in California, while
one lived in Arizona, and one lived in Oregon (Table 4). The participants’ age ranges skewed
younger, with two in the 18–24 range, seven in the 24–34 range, seven in the 35–44 range, two
in the 45–54 range, and one in the 55–64 range. Due to the fact that the TG community is a small
percentage of the population, this study was a field study, as finding an organization with enough
TG employees willing to speak freely about workplace discrimination would be difficult.
Therefore, the interviewees represented a variety of industries. While I sought diversity of race,
several groups were not represented or underrepresented. Thirteen of the participants were
White, three were Latino, two were Asian, and one was Native American. The main
demographic of concern for this study is gender identity. The participants skewed masculine,
with 12 identified as transmen or presented as nonbinary masculine of center. Of the remaining

56
interviewees, four were transwomen, and three were nonbinary with no defined presentation of
masculine or feminine. Nineteen interviews were enough to reach experience saturation of the
positionalities represented, therefore supporting the validity of the following findings.
Table 4
Participant Demographics
Name Age State
Trans identity,
presentation Race Industry
Angel 45–54 California Nonbinary Latino Education
Cain 25–34 Arizona Transman White Medical
Cameron 35–44 California
Nonbinary,
transmasculine White Medical
Dana 35–44 California
Nonbinary,
transmasculine White Education
Dennis 25–34 California Transman White
Medical
Technology
Ellis 25–34 Oregon
Nonbinary,
transmasculine White Nonprofit
Hugh 35–44 California
Nonbinary,
transmasculine White Legal
Ian 25–34 California Transman White Technology
Jackie 35–44 California Transwoman Latino Construction
Jaime 25–34 California Nonbinary White Nonprofit
Jerry 18–24 California Transman White Education
Jordan 45–54 California
Nonbinary,
transmasculine White Consultant
Juan 35–44 California Transman
Native
American Technology
Mary 55–64 California Transwoman White Security
Mason 25–34 California Transman Asian Medical
Molly 25–34 California Transwoman White Food Services
Raphael 18–24 California Transman Latino Security
Robyn 35–44 California
Nonbinary,
transmasculine White Social Services
Rose 35–44 California Transwoman Asian Social Services

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Research Question 1: Sociopolitical Influences on the Workplace
Research Question 1 asked how sociopolitical changes regarding TG discrimination
affect the workplace. The data analysis revealed three major themes: employment location, job
selection, and cisnormativity. The following sections discuss these themes.
Employment Location
For this theme, the codes for political perception and societal perceptions were the main
drivers, along with other codes to a lesser degree. Table 5 presents the details. In addition, 11
participants (58%) mentioned that moving locations would be an issue due to the support they
feel in their current state or concerns about being in less tolerant states due to anti-TG laws or the
culture’s lack of tolerance for TG people. The following section will discuss both topics.
Table 5
Employment Location Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Code Files References
Political perceptions 19 36
Societal perceptions 19 68

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For participants who focused on their current state, they felt that if everything was not
perfect, it was a haven that shielded them from the national issues around TG rights, as shown
when Jaime stated,
You know, where I live in Northern California, it might be getting better for my own
group of friends or something, but overall, in the country, it is not getting better… I feel
very privileged to live in California, where I know legally, things are safe.
Similarly, Jerry stated,
I feel like they’re pretty good compared to the rest of the country. … I feel pretty
fortunate to be in this state. [I] feel pretty safe. I definitely would not want to move out of
here anytime soon. So, overall, it’s a positive view. I think there are times where it could
be better.
Laws were the major concern for people who focused outside of their state, as they would
lose access to these medical needs or lose legal protections afforded to them. Rose was
concerned about legal access to medical necessities that come with being TG,
You know, like in the south or [other places, they are] just putting in all these laws for
children and, you know, access to HRT and other gender-affirming care as being limited
in a lot of places. It is scary. So, I’m like, don’t get me wrong. Things aren’t great. Things
are expensive. But here in California, I don’t least have to worry about that. For the most
part. For now, so.
Juan even followed anti-TG laws, which helped in their determination on states to avoid, as
evident when they stated,
I mean, it kind of sucks out there in most places. I feel really, really privileged and lucky
to live in LA, you know. I’m from Wisconsin, and they haven’t passed any anti-trans bills

59
yet, but not for lack of trying. … I, like, follow anti-trans bills. So, I can make a list of
places that I won’t travel to for work. Because I don’t feel, like, you know, I’ll be
necessarily comfortable there. I know probably, you know, I’m one of the people who’s
not going to be, you know, targeted as much as a lot of other people might be, but I also
just don’t want to go to somewhere that doesn’t want me.
As some states are pushing to create laws that make TG people feel unwelcomed at best
and unsafe at worst, participants have left those states to come to California to avoid those states
or stay in California due to state protections. As economic opportunities often come with
changing locations, some TG individuals will miss out on new jobs and promotions due to statebased sociopolitical concerns.
Job Selection Factors
This theme details findings about what factors influence participants’ decisions during
job selection and the hiring process. While there is an overlap with location selection, this
section will not cover it. Transgender individuals must be selective in which jobs they pursue due
to worries about being accepted, TG-related medical coverage, and other items. Once a job is
selected, the participants must then navigate what information they would like to share about
their identity as well as what questions they can ask for fear that they will not get the job if
people know they are TG. These factors stem from personal experience and societal influences,
so if national transphobia increases, these concerns may increase. For this theme, Table 6 shows
the main codes analyzed.

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Table 6
Job Selection Factors Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Code Participants References
Social perceptions 19 68
Political perceptions 19 39
Work gender identity 19 57
Job selection and hiring 12 21
The common sentiment among the participants regarding what they are looking for in a
new job is acceptance and trans-related medical benefits. They would like to be open about their
identity and express gender identity as they choose. Cameron moved from a job where they had
to keep their identity secret to a nonprofit. Yet, they still work at their previous job as a
freelancer.
I still also freelance in entertainment, which is where I used to work before I transitioned
to this job. … So, I have this very stark comparison that I can make. … I did seek out this
particular environment, though. It was over many years, but, like, basically the result of
my coming out and my sexuality and gender identity, and I just wanted to work with
other people who understood and who had similar lived experience and who [I] wouldn’t
have to worry about like how they would respond to those identities as much.
Jaime shared a similar desire to find an accepting workplace when they stated, “I’d like to
find a workplace where my gender is celebrated. … I’d like to find a space where I feel like I am
seen as a whole human.” Ellis’ preferences for an employer extended beyond TG protection to
encompass broader terms when they stated,
I would want to work for an organization that shares my values. So, not just about, like,
trans stuff, but like making sure to, like, have a sustainable organization in terms of like

61
making sure that the planet isn’t going to be suffering because I’m working here. And
then also having, like, stated and explicit … anti-racist policies, but like, that they’re
actively working to have a more inclusive workplace and hearing from people who are
not normally heard.
All three of these participants would like to work for a company that shares their personal values,
whether that is TG-affirming policies and attitudes or broader social and environmental
concerns.
While some participants mentioned acceptance, others stated that they were also
concerned about covering the medical necessities that come with being TG, such as hormone
therapy or surgeries. These medical expenditures can be cost-prohibitive for lower-wage-earning
individuals, exemplified when Mason stated, “You have to pay out of pocket. Like, my T-gel
costs $800. And I’m so grateful because if I paid out of pocket for that bullshit, due to how am I
gonna pay $800. That’s some bullshit.” So, even if participants can work without their TG status
being public, they still must be wary. When Robyn was job hunting, they found a job that was
advertising for a TG person to work with trans-clientele; however, Robyn still had to make sure
of medical expenses: “I asked them about their policies around, like, clothing and medical
transition if their health insurance supported it. So, I wanted to know that before going into it.”
Cain shared similar concerns along with the difficulty of finding the answers:
No, I have found another job. I do always worry. Like, one of the main concerns is that I
can’t just work anywhere because I have to work somewhere that has healthcare that
covers trans healthcare. So that’s always kind of a concern when I’m looking for a job.
And then sometimes it’s hard to figure that out. And so, it’s like, do I want to ask and
then like that, it’s like, okay, well, now it’s like a thing. So, that is, like, usually a concern

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when I’m looking for work. … I accepted a job, and I know. I was able to do research
and know that they do cover trans healthcare. But that’s definitely something that, like,
can be difficult when looking for a job.
These factors were central in the dilemma that many participants faced between choosing
to stay where they are open and accepted or moving to a job with a higher position or wage but
being uncertain about or knowing that they may have to hide their identity. While acceptance and
medical were preferred, some chose more restrictive jobs due to opportunity. As Rose explained,
I’m not out at work. On the one hand, you know, like I was out at my last job. That kind
of sucks, right? … For many reasons, I would kind of force myself back in the closet, and
it doesn’t feel great. But I’m not gonna lie. It was for more money, a lot more money.
Rose’s example shows the struggle that TG people must reconcile when looking for a job.
Transgender individuals’ ambitions and goals are bounded by their TG status. In general, people
in America would like to have a job where they are medically, personally, and professionally
secure. However, TG people often must choose between the three unless they are fortunate
enough to find a job where they have all three. Considering that there are state laws that mandate
TG health insurance (State of California Department of Justice, 2024) and there are federal laws
protecting LGBT work rights, these issues can be eliminated if society is not divided on TG
rights.
Cisnormativity
The theme of cisnormativity, the belief that being cisgender is the normal state of being,
was consistent throughout the interviews. For this finding, the codes for the intersection of trans
and feminine, the intersection of trans and masculine, gender identity at work, and gender
identity outside of work were studied along with other codes to a lesser degree (Table 7). The

63
theme of cisnormativity was discovered and split into two different categories. The first category
consists of treating people who are openly TG or nonbinary in a way that denies their lived
gender. The second category consists of privileges conferred and behaviors based on
assumptions that a TG person is cisgender for participants. The following sections will discuss
both categories.
Table 7
Cisnormativity Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Code Files References
Intersection of trans and femininity 4 5
Intersection of trans and masculinity 11 29
Work gender identity 19 57
Social gender identity 18 44

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Cisnormativity is a cultural concept that affects the workplace for TG people, often
nullifying their lived gender or othering them in various ways. Many times, this is under the
assumption that there are only two genders, and that one person should be able to determine
which gender a TG person should be. This phenomenon is often associated with bathroom usage,
which is made even more awkward by the TG person not wanting to offend others. This is
exemplified when Dana stated:
I will preface it with not like I haven’t been physically assaulted. No one has called me
slurs, right. I’ve had a couple of times where I’ve, like, gone into the restroom. Use it
whatever. Go to wash my hands. And, like, people will tell me or when I’m walking in.
Be like, “Oh, you’re in the wrong bathroom,” and I’ll just be like, “No, I’m not.” Like, go
about my day. Like, I don’t like making people feel uncomfortable in what’s already a
weird space anyway.
Hugh had a similar experience:
Yes, I had one employee who approached me and asked me if I was going to be using the
wrong bathroom. And that’s the way she stated it. And I told her I would be using the
men’s restroom because I was man, and her response was, well, at least you’re not using
the women’s because that’s where the problem is.
Cisnormativity can also be used to police appearance and behaviors. Being nonbinary, Hugh
wears jewelry and lipstick to express femininity, which confuses others and may potentially
stymie future displays:
Oh, yes, people get very confused at work. I generally just shrug and say it’s not
gendered. It can be whatever it is. And most people’s response to that is something along

65
the lines of … I had one boss respond to me saying, … “Brave new world you’re living
in,” and what Okay, sure. That’s as positive of a response I can expect.
As shown, cisnormativity can effectively nullify or police a TG person’s identity. Paradoxically,
cisnormativity can also make socialization difficult for TG individuals whose trans-identity is not
known.
Many TG individuals live a significant portion of their lives in their birth gender before
transitioning, therefore socially as their birth gender even if it conflicts with their inner gender.
Therefore, some participants found themselves in predicaments where the gender that matches
their presentation, masculine or feminine, is privy to sexist or anti-TG conversations. Nonbinary
is not mentioned, as cisnormativity tends to erase nonbinary identities. Being included in these
situations puts TG individuals in a quandary as to whether they should speak up or stay silent.
Cain illustrated their experience of dealing with anti-TG comments:
I don’t tell people. Most of the time, people do not assume that I’m trans. They just
assume that I’m a cis man, and so then they, you know, they’re like, “Oh, ha ha,” you
know, and they, like, think they can joke about that kind of thing … But it’s usually not a
direct comment. It’s usually like either in joking or like, you know, a client might come in
and, like, they’re trans, and they make a comment about it. It’s usually, like, directed at
somebody else. Because I usually refrain from engaging in those types of conversations,
just as to not really connect myself to it.
Thus, Cain’s interactions with anti-TG comments as an assumed cisgender male place them in a
position of having to remain silent, which then reinforces Cain’s decision to not engage in TGrelated conversations.

66
Ellis also mentioned being uncomfortable with the access and privileges gained by being
seen as male even though they are nonbinary:
It’s uncomfortable for me largely because I … accidentally have access to spaces where
people see me as one of them in terms of, like, Oh, now we can talk in horrible ways
about people … who we’re all assuming share the same identity as us. So, it’s, it was very
uncomfortable for me for a long time.
Ellis’s reactions to finding themselves in situations where they are part of a marginalizing
conversation is to use their access and privilege to lift up and support other marginalized voices:”
It’s still uncomfortable, but I’m able to go okay, so I can be a large, masculine body that
gets in the way of people just assuming that these conversations are okay to be having.
And like my voice is able to be heard in ways that other people’s aren’t. … But I’m
starting to, like, recognize that even if this is not a person that I am, which is I’m not a
man. And I’m not, I still now have the ability to make change in ways that I couldn’t
before.
By recognizing that they have power now that they are seen in a certain manner, even though it is
uncomfortable, Ellis strives to use that power to help others. Helping others is a major theme that
ran through many of the interviews and will be discussed in the third finding. Even though Cain
and Ellis have different approaches, neither is better or worse, as they are all part of the
calculations that TG individuals must make daily to live their lives the best they can in a
cisnormative environment.
Discussion
The section presented the findings for Research Question 1, which were that
sociopolitical forces affect where TG employees and what types of jobs they take. Once they

67
take the job, they must work within a cisnormative environment that is part of the American
culture. As anti-TG rhetoric and laws increased, the participants were increasingly aware of and
confronted with these concerns. State laws that support or exclude TG individuals highly
influence employment location decisions. Three participants mentioned Florida specifically as a
place they would not go to, while two others stated they moved from their home states to
California for freedom and support.
Similarly, other issues were factors for which jobs the participants would take.
Participants would like to work in a place where they are free to express themselves, and the
employer covers trans-related healthcare. However, some find themselves unable to express
themselves fully and regret the loss of freedom. Many of the participants were unaware of
California’s law, which bans excluding TG-related expenses until I informed them. Once they
receive the job, many participants must navigate a cisnormative environment that either nullifies
their trans-identity or places them in uncomfortable positions where they must follow expected
cisgender roles or out themselves. This includes situations where the participants find themselves
in conversations that are sexist or transphobic. While these findings are common to many other
positionalities, the combination of all three is common in the TG experience, especially as TG
visibility and the subsequent backlash have worsened in the politics and the culture.
Research Question 2: Transgender Challenges in the Workplace
As the sociopolitical climate changes drastically, we would expect to see increased
challenges in the workplace for TG individuals. This section will discuss the findings based on
the challenges of identity navigation in the workplace, discrimination, and medical benefits. As
stated in the previous findings, participants desire a job where they can be free to express their

68
whole identity and access medical benefits. This section will discuss the challenges to obtaining
those desires.
Challenges With Transgender Identity
As mentioned before, many participants must navigate their identity at work. In this
study, there was a mix of individuals who were publicly known to be TG, people who were not
public, and those who were not sure. This can be seen in Table 8. For the table and section, the
terms “out” and “stealth” are used, as they were terms that were common throughout the
interviews. Out means that the participant’s TG status was public. Stealth means that the
participant’s TG status was private. The codes used for this theme can be found in Table 8. This
section will discuss the challenges the participants faced in expressing and existing as their
desired gender. This section will be separated into transwomen, transmen, and nonbinary
individuals since each faced unique challenges.

69
Table 8
Participants’ Trans-identity at Work
Name Gender identity, presentation Identity status
Angel Nonbinary Out
Cain Transman Out
Cameron Nonbinary, transmasculine Out
Dana Nonbinary, transmasculine Out
Dennis Transman Stealth
Ellis Nonbinary, transmasculine Stealth
Hugh Nonbinary, transmasculine Out
Ian Transman Out
Jackie Transwoman Stealth
Jaime Nonbinary Out
Jerry Transman Stealth
Jordan Nonbinary, transmasculine Stealth
Juan Nonbinary, gender-fluid Out
Mary Transwoman Out
Mason Transman Out
Molly Transwoman Out
Raphael Transman Stealth
Robyn Transmasculine Out
Rose Transwoman Out
Table 9
Gender Identity Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Code Participants References
Work gender identity 19 57
Work environment 15 28
Work attitudes toward TG people 14 37
Intersection TG and femineity 4 5
Intersection TG and masculinity 11 29
Misgendering 7 9
Pronouns 4 9

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Transwomen
The four transwomen interviewees had completely different experiences when it came to
gender identity. Since there were only four, there were not enough experiences to find much
commonality. Therefore, the following sections present each separately.
Jackie started her transition in her teens and was stealth in her job. Her gender identity
issues stemmed more from being a woman in construction rather than a TG person.
I would notice them in differences in some sexual harassment from some of the guys.
They would make like, you know, air-humping gesture at me or one of them one time
with his elbow, we were pulling wire, and he bumped into my left breast, and he says …
those are hard.
Mary transitioned on her job. During the transition, she struggled with misgendering. She
attributes the misgendering to her physical characteristics and not having facial feminization
surgery, as shown when she stated, “So, my height, my broad shoulders, you know, it’s just
from behind, especially, you know, I get misgendered a lot, and that was uncomfortable … I
was so upset. It would ruin my whole day.”
Rose is stealth at work because her job is very “cis-het” (cisgender-heterosexual).
Because she works a public-facing job with senior citizens, she knew she had to be stealthy, as
she stated, “I knew going into, like, yeah, they’re not going to be cool this. My life will be hell.
So that’s why I did what I had to do.” Thus, Rose has to compartmentalize her identity to the
point that she feels she is two different people:
In a way, been like a seat, like a great boundary between work and home life. Because I
am literally not this, like such a different person that they know. I am totally a different
person. You know, when I go to work, I’m one person. I don’t know what that means

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psychologically, but it’s helped in that way. But on the other hand, it makes me sad a little
bit because I can’t entirely be who I feel that I am so.
Out of all of the women, Molly, by far, expressed the most difficulty with being TG at
work. Many of her problems were from a manager who fostered a culture of anti-queer and antiTG harassment. Starting with transition, Molly started to have breast growth at her place of
employment but was uncomfortable and hid the growth due to comments. When asked if she felt
comfortable about her changes, Molly stated,
No, I kept it pretty tight. Like, sports bra and, like, kind of hunched my shoulders for
more, and we’re like an apron. So, it was getting to the point where it was getting more
noticeable, and I did kind of feel like getting more, like, weird looks about it.
Molly had to endure active harassment, such as intimidation, inappropriate touching, and
dehumanization when dealing with coworkers, yet the management did not act to protect Molly.
In fact, the manager made it worse. When describing an interaction with a new employee, Molly
stated,
But it did happen where we had somebody training, and they just kept being really
inappropriate with me. [They would come stand] right next to me or, like, block me in
my way. And like, they touched me sometimes like it was one time I was just walking.
They stood in front of me, and they just like touched my like pride pins like, oh, what do
these mean? And then since they’re on my beanie.
At another time, Molly was referred to as an “it,” which is a derogatory term that is used against
TG people to demean them in a cis-normative viewpoint to describe people that counter the
belief that there are only males and females.

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One time, I was in the back. They were just … making a lot of remarks and trying to be,
like, flirty and saying some stuff, and then it was after that I just ignored them, and I was
out just doing my job, and then I got asked, like, if I was a “it.” Like, they kept calling
people like “it.” … In regards to, like, our nonbinary people and other queer people and
then just directly asked me if I was in “it.”
Molly spoke to her boss, yet the person finished training and was transferred to another site.
Molly’s manager also bullied other queer people in the workplace. The situation became
untenable for Molly when she was asked to an independent play, not knowing that her manager
was an actor in it. Unfortunately, the play had very strong anti-TG sentiment as a man with a
“big beard and tattoos” played a female dancer who was hurt. Then Molly’s manager entered the
scene:
Then, it was the next scene where he got taken to the hospital, and they kept talking
about [how] mutilated his, like, genitals were, and then my boss was like the nurse in that
scene. And they said they had to do, like, an operation, and then I knew where that was
going, and I left. It didn’t feel good.
After the incident, the manager refused to speak to Molly about the play. Molly was fired for
tardiness shortly afterward, as she did not want to go to work. Incidentally, in 2023, there was a
movie, Lady Ballers (Boreing, 2023), advertised nationally about men pretending to be women
to win at female sports, an open ridicule of transexuals.
The transwomen had various challenges of sexual harassment, being made to feel
uncomfortable about their bodies, and not being able to express their TG identity. Nonbinary
individuals had some overlap, but they had their own challenges.

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Transgender Nonbinary
Nine participants identified as nonbinary. Of the nine, six stated that they had a masculine
presentation. Three gave more complex explanations of their presentation. Angel’s presentation
was masculine, but he would prefer a more feminine presentation. Jaime stated that they are seen
as feminine, though they tend to present more masculine. Juan’s presentation tends to shift along
the gender spectrum, presenting a mixture of feminine and masculine. Gender nonbinary
participants’ most common challenge was being the work environment trying to force them into
a gendered identity. This presents itself in various ways as many of them have not had any
medical procedures, so they are seen as their birth gender. For instance, Jaime was out as TG
nonbinary, but at their work, “no one used my pronouns. I was put into like, the Women’s Day
posts. They’d, like, tag me.” Both Jaime and Juan believe that part of the issue is that there is a
societal stereotype of nonbinary people that consists of being White and thin. Therefore, they are
considered nonbinary as they don’t fit that description. This is evident when Juan stated,
They think, they envision somebody who is White and skinny, and you know, doesn’t
have a lot of, you know, features that we associate either with a lot of masculinity or, you
know, a lot of feminine features. You know, a lot of times … they won’t necessarily
have, like, a lot of facial hair, you know. They won’t have either, like, big muscles or you
know, bigger hips or a bigger chest. And so, and, you know, that’s just like a really
confining image. That I don’t fit into, even though I am White. And of course, anybody
who isn’t White isn’t going to be anywhere, you know, isn’t going to be in that place as
well.
Jaime, as a singer, had a difficult time obtaining nonbinary roles in shows because, “hey
still only want you to know, a thin White androgynous person playing their one nonbinary

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character, and there’s still not really a space for anything outside of that.” This stereotype may
contribute to three of the participants being born in female bodies and being seen as “butch
lesbians” even though they publicly identify as nonbinary.
While some participants are facing denial of the nonbinary gender, others have to hide
being gender nonbinary for fear that it will cause severe negative repercussions. Both Jordan and
Ellis are quiet about their gender, working as a gender that they don’t really identify as. Ellis is a
car service driver working with the public. During that time, Ellis presents as a man for safety:
I used he/him pronouns the whole time, and I would lower my voice down here. …
People would clock it was just like, oh, you’re a quirky White guy. … People would get
in the car, largely drunk, and start talking about their coworkers that they were really
upset about. Because they were transitioning and [the coworker was] being mean about
being dead named or called the wrong pronouns and how evil that was, and you know,
also they would start preaching like literally, missionary style Christianity preaching
during this time, which I didn’t love.
Jordan must minimize their gender presentation because they are a private consultant who works
in their community. So, they have difficulty expressing themselves at work and in their personal
life. Jordan was not public and used their given name at work because, as they stated,
I think some of the older people I work with, I would lose my networking with them, and
just because of what my [spouse] wants to do, and the people I know I’m gonna need to
make it make it succeed. I feel like I can’t use my preferred being. Like, I can’t change
my name.
Coming out would have a “financial impact” on their job and affect their spouse’s job as well:

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My [spouse is] going to be building this practice. It’s going to be a nonprofit clinic, but
right now [they] work in academia. And academia … has a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of a
lot of politics, a lot of beliefs. And I know that if I were to come out, a lot of my
husband’s colleagues are [religious], and I do worry that it could prevent him from
getting promotions, it could prevent him from getting, you know, certain career
opportunities. If they knew about this and that it’s a lot of more trial. I find it’s more
protecting my [family] to make sure we can provide for each other [to] be okay.
Due to the potential dangers that come with being their natural identity, both Jordan and Ellis are
forced into a binary role that does not fit who they are.
The nonbinary participants’ most common challenge was being forced into binary roles.
Participants with public identities had to deal with gender erasure as coworkers tried to
categorize them into one gender or another. The challenges for participants who are stealth come
from fears of dealing with local society as they navigate working around neighbors and clients
who live in their community.
Transmen
Transmen reported the least number of challenges out of all groups. Three of the
participants were stealth at work and reported very little in challenges concerning their gender
identity. Two of the transmen, Mason and Cain, were open about their identity as they worked in
organizations that focused on the LGBT community. Ian was out at work but did not talk about it
very much. Four transmen participants reported that there were no issues at work regarding them
being TG. Mason is a researcher who studies trans-related issues. While he expressed frustration
with cisgender researchers’ lack of knowledge about the trans community, he did not have any
issues personally because, as he stated, his situation is “unique because most of my colleagues

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are trans. … Like, for example, my principal investigator is trans.” Ian’s identity became public
when he was part of a panel for his company’s TG employee resource group. While he thought
there were going to be multiple participants, he was the only one and had to answer questions
from the staff. Ultimately, “it worked out fine.” He stated that his immediate workgroup “don’t
care about what I grew up as. They care if I fixed the server yet.”
This theme has discussed challenges, with TG identity separated into the gender identity
of transwomen, transmen, and nonbinary individuals. While transmen had personal challenges,
there were no overall common challenges that they described. Nonbinary individuals faced
challenges with people accepting a nonbinary approach to gender. Transwomen faced challenges
around sexual harassment, body image, and being accepted as transwomen as opposed to men.
Challenges to the participants being able to live and work comfortably in their desired identity
can be taxing on many levels. However, these challenges can be compounded when coupled with
being isolated from the rest of the staff due to being TG.
Isolation
The theme of isolation came up repeatedly in the interviews. Isolation came from being
the only TG person in the organization, hiding one’s identity, or not being accepted by the other
employees. The most common codes analyzed for this theme were work environment, work
attitudes toward TG people, isolation, and recommendations, as can be found in Table 10.

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Table 10
Isolation Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Codes Participants References
Work environment 15 28
Work attitudes toward TG people 14 37
Isolation 9 18
Recommendations 18 55
The most common form of isolation was feeling that the participants were not part of the
group. Coworkers often socialize at work to build camaraderie. Several participants were
excluded from these sorts of activities or avoided altogether. Cameron, for example, identifies as
nonbinary masculine, yet they were excluded from their male coworker’s bonding experiences in
Cameron’s contracting job in entertainment:
It’s mostly avoidance, honestly. Like, they don’t know what to do with me. So, they just
kind of avoid me and ignore me. The socializing aspect of the job, obviously, I’m still
there to do the work, and they’re listening to me during my job, … but they kind of
treated me with kid gloves, so to speak. Like, it was, again, mostly always men that I was
working with, and they would be much more rough with each other … both physically
and conversationally and verbally, … but they wouldn’t do that with me, or they would
filter themselves.
Jackie expressed a similar sentiment with exclusion and avoidance as a nonbinary transmasculine
individual:
I’m transgender? Well, which you can’t change. So, what do you mean, you know, like,
how can you move past that? But still, it’s hard to move past it because then you go back
[and] they’re talking about me, and they don’t like me. … Or if you asked a question to a

78
supervisor, and they’re very thorough with their answer, you know, but you see them
over there interacting with the other guys just doing this shit [with] them, you know, that
that is not even really funny. But you want to laugh too, you know, you want to be a part
of, you don’t only want to be the butt of the joke, you know, kind of thing. Yeah.
Both examples showed that the participants wanted to be included to some degree with the social
aspects of their work to fit it.
While not being included in activities was a common theme, others felt isolated due to
the constant act of having to reassert their identity. Jaime finds this act mentally taxing:
That piece of feeling isolated and the being in meetings thinking, “Okay, should I correct
them?” … Even when talking about things outside of myself. Like, if they were just
discussing gender or inclusivity or something, and I’d be like, “Should I say something?
… Does this remind them that I’m out?” … Just the mental turmoil of that.
Mason shared similar concerns when speaking about why he is more reserved with his identity.
I think early in my gender journey, I’m like, Yeah, I can explain everything with you and
do this with you. Now I’m tired because, like, I think there are times I’ve been called
like, it, or he/she, and … I’m like, “Oh, well, I understand, like, English isn’t your first
language.” Now, I’m like, That’s some bullshit. I am not dealing with this. Because this
is some trauma bullshit. And now I gotta go to therapy to unpack this. I’m not going to
smile and say everything is okay. So, I think I’m being more reserved and more like, my
circle is I’m being a little bit closed offish.
Both examples touch on the mental aspects of having to defend your identity and how it can
make a person want to withdraw because they are seen as different.

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Isolation stemmed from being treated differently than other coworkers, either through
avoidance or having to remind people of the participant’s identity. This issue often took place in
locations with very few, if any, other trans people. Out of the 19 participants, only Mason had a
higher-ranked manager who was TG. This is not surprising, considering that TG people are not
proportionally represented in management positions (Baboolall et al., 2022). Therefore, it is up
to cisgender managers, often with no training or understanding, to help TG people with these
incidents. This, factored in with poor human resources practices, means that many of the
participants faced a significant uphill battle to gain dignity and happiness at work.
Human Resources
Lack of human resources (HR) competency was a pervasive theme throughout most
interviews. Eleven interviewees referenced HR. It was a theme identified early in the interviews
that was often associated with intolerable work environments. Therefore, HR received its own
code early in the coding process. The main codes analyzed for this theme were work
environment, work attitudes toward TG people, and HR, as can be seen in Table 11. This theme
will discuss TG challenges associated with HR topics such as complaint resolution, training, and
trans competency.
Table 11
Human Resources Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Codes Participants References
Work environment 15 28
Work attitudes toward TG people 14 37
Human resources 11 28

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As seen in Table 12, 21% of participants did not have an HR department due to the size
of the company, or they were contractors. 16% of the participants had a positive view of HR as
their HR team had policies and competency in dealing with TG issues. 42% stated that their HR
department was adequate as they did their jobs, but they may not have had policies or
competency in dealing with TG issues. 21% of participants had negative experiences when it
came to dealing with HR about TG issues.
Table 12
Human Resources Effective
Effectiveness Frequency
N = 19 (percentage)
Did not have a HR department 4 (21%)
Positive 3 (16%)
Neutral 8 (42%)
Negative 4 (21%)

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Several participants had positive experiences. Hugh had the most positive assessment as
he came out at work with HR help:
HR had policies already in place for what to do, which I really appreciated. We had
transitioned in our workplace from a more informal workplace with a smaller number of
employees to a more formalized HR with a larger number of employees the 6 months
before I came out. So, having that more formalized HR with someone who was
experienced in HR and had a little more sensitivity to the things that could come up really
helped.
This procedure helped Hugh as HR helped him change his name and pronouns on internal
documents. Ultimately,” Most of [his] coworkers seem pretty “unfazed,” and the process “was
much smoother than [he] anticipated.” Cameron also had positive sentiments when speaking of
HR at their main job: “Working at [the nonprofit], like things are pretty good, comparatively to
like, most places. Yeah, there’s little things here and there. For sure, but for the most part, it’s
way better.” This would be expected as Cameron works at an LGBT organization. However,
Cameron has had major TG-related challenges with their freelance job, as there was no HR
department due to its small size. Therefore, any issues are resolved by the owner, who informs
Cameron’s coworkers of their pronouns yet doesn’t use the pronouns himself. Robyn also did not
have an HR department because of the small size of their organization. Managers must take care
of any trans-related issues, but they “don’t understand like what issues… might mean for an
employee.”
Most of the references inferred that the HR system was adequate. The company had
standard procedures in place but lacked trans-related procedures or sensitivity. Angel had the
most representative description of their HR experience when they came out:

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The feeling that I got from … the meetings that I had with my department chair, maybe
the dean at the time, and HR was, like, HR was there just to cover the university there.
The representative’s job was … not to help me. It was to protect the university, protect …
the institution.
To Angel, HR was “stiff,” and the “human element” was missing from the situation. This type of
sentiment was echoed by other participants when it came to other aspects of HR. The participants
stated that HR had little or no training when it came to basic TG concepts such as pronouns and
identity presentation. Another issue that reoccurred was TG healthcare benefits. Some
participants expressed that they did not know their healthcare benefits. Cameron stated, “There
are a lot of conversations also around like health care insurance that’s provided to us as trans
employees and how we can optimize our access as trans employees to the things that we need to
trans health care.” There were even participants who did not know they had trans-related
benefits, such as when Dennis stated, “I think that they provide insurance that covers trans
healthcare like trans-related health care.” Some of the California-based interviewees did not
know that the state required all insurance companies to provide trans-related benefits (State of
California Department of Justice, 2024).
While most of the HR views were positive or mediocre, three individuals expressed
negative sentiments about their HR department overall. Ian, Molly, and Rose all had different
problems with the way HR conducted themselves. While Rose did not express any negative
experiences with HR, she felt that they upheld a cisnormative structure that allowed the
oppression of trans people.

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So, when I got to my current job, … it’s just kind of like corporatey but without any, like,
DEI policies is just like, you know, very cis-het [cisgender-heterosexual]. …They still
very much uphold, like, a shitty system.
Molly and Ian’s concerns were more practical. Molly worked in a centralized
organization at one of the branch stores. As Molly faced discrimination from her manager, she
used a feedback survey to try to correct the issue. Yet, despite her and her coworkers providing
negative feedback, nothing ever occurred:
I was very surprised [HR] never talked to us because … they had us do … feedback
surveys and stuff like all the time and kind of stuff like that. … We all, like, did
coordinate that … we needed to give her bad feedback because she was really bad. … It
was, like, really only the queer people that had any bad interactions with her. But …
definitely, like, there was nothing done. Nobody checked up. … You know, I disclosed I
was trans, and … they are kind of like anonymous, but … we did all … unanimously give
her bad feedback. And they never did anything. She got, like, manager [of] the quarter or
something for, like, the district somehow.
This lack of resolution contributed to Molly’s decision not to involve HR as the situation
worsened.
In Ian’s experience, HR was not just dismissive; they were actively hostile. While trying
to create an information session between HR and the trans employees around trans medical
benefits, HR exemplified several of the challenges mentioned throughout this research:
They called me into, like, an HR meeting. … I think it was because I asked for our
wellness manager to present on our benefits package and what it actually means for trans
people because I had, you know, people talk to me. They say, like, “Hey, I have no idea

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what my … benefits for my FFS or my fucking orchiectomy or what, I don’t know,
surgery questions. Can we get a benefits guy in to answer them for a group so that way
30 individuals don’t have to call,” and he took serious offense with that, … but what
really struck me is that the head of HR said things like gay people are a bunch of bitching
moaners.
Thus, this experience shows the potential hostility that TG people can face and the lack of transsensitivity training, lack of training on medical benefits, and HR enforcing cisnormativity as they
erase the TG employee’s identity by conflating it with gay people. This reinforces various
themes mentioned earlier, including Rose’s philosophical concerns.
Discussion
The section examined the challenges that participants face in the workplace. Where
applicable, this section presented the analysis of the challenges through the intersectional lens of
being TG and gender presentation. Overall, TG people face discrimination around their
identities. This, in turn, causes isolation from others due to their TG status. This problem is
compounded by often ill-prepared HR departments that do not understand or actively escalate the
problems. These problems often lead to issues around psychological safety as the participants
cope with these issues in various manners.
Research Question 3: Psychological Safety
Having explored how society impacted participants’ employment and the challenges they
faced at work, it is no surprise that they had to cope with some negative psychological
repercussions. This section will discuss the findings around participants’ psychological safety
and how they coped with the repercussions of the multitude of transgressions they navigate

85
regularly. In addition, this section will discuss the theme of how participants used their powers to
recognize and help other marginalized people.
Negative Psychological Effects
For this theme, all psychological and emotional references were placed in the code
“psychological safety.” The code contained 17 participants with 48 references, as seen in Table
13. For this finding, I created a word cloud to illustrate the emotions and feelings elicited from
work, as seen in Figure 2. As can be seen from the word chart, the emotions mentioned tended to
be negative. These emotions include anger, frustration, sadness, and concern. Figure 2 also
shows some causes for these emotions, such as having to remind people of the participants’
gender identity, healthcare, and work, items that are all covered in Findings 1 and 2. While all
these emotions are valid and important, this section will cover more researched topics of anxiety
and depression, as well as issues that stem from them, such as sleep issues and post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD).
Table 13
Psychological Safety Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Code Participants References
Psychological safety 17 48

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Figure 2
Psychological Safety Word Cloud
Anxiety and depression are common psychological issues in the TG community due to
the amount of discrimination and stigma that they must endure daily (Budge et al., 2013),
(Puckett et al., 2020). The issues can lead to PTSD and sleep disorders in TG individuals
(Mustanski et al., 2016). This study analyzed depression, anxiety, PTSD, and sleep disorders in
participants, as can be seen in Table 14. For this analysis, there was no differentiation between
self-diagnosis and medical diagnosis. The analysis was taken from participants’ descriptions.

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Table 14
Psychological Issues Analysis
Psychological challenges Frequency
(N = 19)
Percentage
Depression 7 37%
Anxiety 8 42%
PTSD 2 11%
Sleep disorder 3 16%
Attempted suicide 1 5%
Budge et al. (2013) reported that participants with anxiety were 40% to 47% based on
gender. Depression among participants was 48%-51% based on gender. This research has a
lower percentage of depression. However, anxiety was within the same range. There are
differences between this study as the previous study did not have nonbinary participants, and
they asked specific questions about these systems. This study included nonbinary individuals and
only asked general questions about the mental effects of the workplace. I did not bring up suicide
due to a lack of professional skills to deal with such a topic, but one person did bring it up as a
response to work and life issues. The person stated that they were seeking help, and no more was
discussed on the topic. Two participants stated that they had PTSD but did not state exactly what
contributed to it. Three individuals stated that they suffered from insomnia or had difficulty
sleeping partially due to TG-related work stress.
This section has shown that many people suffer severe psychological consequences from
their work environment and the negative emotions that work causes them. This study shows that
the participants suffered from high levels of depression and anxiety, which is consistent with
prior research. While suicide was mentioned, it was not dwelled on. Instead, this study
researched other forms of coping with trans-related issues, as shown in the next theme.

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Coping Methods
Participants were asked how they coped with the challenges that they faced at work.
While it is impossible to separate work stress related to being TG from other forms of stress, the
question was asked in the context of work. For this analysis, the codes of coping mechanism,
social gender identity, and social gender identity were the main codes used, as can be seen in
Table 15. This theme will describe the most common ways that participants cope with TGrelated stressors while working or on their own time.
Table 15
Coping Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Code Files References
Coping mechanism 16 50
Intersection of trans and masculinity 11 29
Work gender identity 19 57
Social gender identity 18 44
The common way that participants dealt with stressors at work was to set boundaries as
to when and where they engage others when it comes to challenges. This manifests itself with
withdrawal from others. They withdraw from discussing their identity or confronting other
people’s transgressions. In their freelance work in the entertainment industry, Cameron
withdraws from interacting with coworkers to protect their identity and safety. When speaking of
concealing their authentic self, Cameron stated,
Definitely, like, personality wise and the ways that I might otherwise express my
authentic personality quirks. I keep a lid on that a little bit. I’m not trying to connect with
these people. I’m being more reserved. I’m there to do my job and go home. Not trying to
make friends. Because I don’t, I don’t feel safe with them, and I don’t trust them.

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Similarly, Cameron makes the same choice when dealing with transgressions to, once again,
protect themselves:
I’ve got a degree in social work, and I’m very, very immersed in all things in that area,
and so the comments that he makes are that they all make, like, stick out to me much
more than they used to for sure. And so, most of the time, I just walk away. Like, I’m just
… not having this conversation. I’m not getting paid enough for those. I’m not invested
in these people. I spent a lot of time managing my energy in those spaces. So, I’m like,
What do I actually have the energy to engage with? Like, if it’s somebody who’s worth,
like, correcting on my pronouns or calling out, but they’re making a really inappropriate
comment and, but I can’t do every single time it happens. … It’ll just be draining for me.
Several participants expressed concern about when to engage, as they felt that the issues came up
so often that they were exhausted. When speaking about engaging in a hostile environment,
Dana’s comment was the most succinct and representative:” I got to pick and choose my battles,
and that’s not one of them.”
Outside of work, coping mechanisms were more varied. Three participants did not state
any mechanism or strategy. Two participants stated they were happy at work and did not feel
there were any stressors related to being TG. One participant was uncomfortable with the
question, so the question was skipped. As shown in Table 16, engaging with the queer
community had the largest response.
Table 16
Coping Mechanisms Outside of Work
Coping Mechanism Frequency
(participants expressed multiple)

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The LGBT/queer community 10
Therapy 7
Alone time 5
Medication 3
Pets 2
Family 1
Religion 1
Did not state 3
Ten participants wanted to be with people who had similar experiences and did not judge
them for being TG. When speaking about their community, Robyn stated, “I feel like I have
really solid community … just like knowing that I’m not like the only person in the world
dealing with this crap. So that’s, like, the number one thing is just having my people.” Cain
shared similar sentiments. In their previous job, Cain did not discuss being TG, but the freedom
to be openly TG in his current position helped him to reconnect with the community.
Before working at the queer health clinic, I didn’t really feel like a deep connection with
… the … trans community. But now, … I definitely do so. Like, I want to maintain that
and still make sure to, like, surround myself with people that are also trans and queer and,
like, that I can, like, go out and do things with that share that.
Thus, this shows the importance of community in that participants wanted to connect with others
to share their lives and discuss commonalities in the trans experience.
This section will briefly discuss other major coping mechanisms. Seven participants
mentioned therapy to work through TG-related issues as well as their intersection with other
challenges such as anxiety, PTSD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and autism. Of these,
participants stated that they were also on medication for anxiety and stress. While most stated
that their therapists were familiar with trans or queer issues, only Jaime stated that their therapist
was part of the community. In turn, Jaime felt that they could relate to the therapist better.

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My therapist is nonbinary, and I have felt such a relief seeing them. Like, I’ve been in
therapy for many, many years, and some therapists [I] like better than others. … Since,
like 2018, since I started questioning my gender, I have been … looking for a therapist
who is understanding of that, and to finally see a trans therapist who’s like, yeah, I get it.
It’s such a … huge change.
While two participants were taking medication prescribed by therapists, the third stated
that they were using marijuana to relax from work stress and COVID-related stress. Several
participants mentioned that they had activities that involved them being alone. They described
these activities as rituals that helped the person decompress and ground them. For two
participants, these activities revolved around finding emotional support from their dogs. Finally,
they emphasized the queer community, and one participant mentioned religion while another
mentioned family. Mason found comfort in his faith, though he does admit that there was some
conflict when he stated, “I’m also religious. I go to church. I think faith is really important to me.
Sometimes, it feels like two different worlds. But I was, like, well, I guess I could bring them
together.” Considering that religion is often used as a reason to shun TG people (Haider-Markel
et al., 2019; Pruusaczyk & Hodsun, 2020), having only one person is not a surprise. Hugh was
the only participant who mentioned a family member, their wife, who also happens to be
“gender-nonconforming.” Once again, this is not surprising since many families shun their
members who transition (von Doussa et al., 2020). Thus, the TG individual often turns to the
trans or queer community for acceptance.
This section has talked about the coping mechanisms that participants used at work and
home for trans-related stressors. At work, the participants decided when and if to confront issues
or share their identity with others to save themselves from the mentally taxing effort of

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defending themselves or to educate others. During their nonwork hours, most participants turned
to the queer or trans community to find friendship, comfort, acceptance, and understanding. They
also used therapy and medication to work through issues with a professional’s guidance. Some
preferred more solitary ways to ground themselves, such as exercise, entertainment, or playing
with their dogs. Only one participant mentioned religion, and only one mentioned family, as
these institutions are often at odds with the TG identity. Coping techniques that TF people use
have a profound impact on depression and anxiety (Budge et al., 2013). Another theme that can
be seen as a coping mechanism is the desire to help others. However, it may also manifest from
being marginalized and discriminated against. Therefore, it will be presented as its own theme,
separate from coping.
Helping Others
Another common theme that surfaced was that the participants were aware of what power
they possessed and using that power to help other marginalized people. Participants were aware
of the privileges that came with their position and used them to either make space for others or
actively work to improve others’ lives. For this theme, the main codes analyzed were a duty to
help others, the intersection of trans and race, and the intersection of trans and masculinity, as
shown in Table 17.
Table 17
Coping Theme’s Main Defining Codes
Code Files References
Intersection of trans and race 10 15
Intersection of trans and masculinity 11 29
Coping mechanism 16 50
Duty to help others 10 19

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Ten participants showed an affinity for helping others less fortunate than themselves.
While confronting inequities and discrimination, participants were able to help others make the
lives of others a bit easier. These acts manifested themselves in various ways, such as
recognizing and using their privileges to help other marginalized communities, working in
careers that help others, volunteering, or starting nonprofits. Table 18 presents how the
participants helped people.
Table 18
Methods in Which Participants Help Others
Helping mechanism Frequency
(participants expressed multiple)
Work with marginalized communities 5
Volunteers 3
Advocates at work 5
Recognizes and uses privileges 3
Started nonprofits 2
Five of the participants worked in jobs that helped others in the LGBT community.
Cameron and Cain both worked at LGBT health clinics. Jaime both worked with foster children,
some of whom were LGBT identified, and created a music school that specialized in LGBT
students. Mason worked as a researcher as part of a team that specialized in trans-related issues.
Robyn worked with incarcerated trans people. These jobs allowed the participants the benefit of
being able to express themselves freely while helping their communities.
Besides working with the TG community, five participants advocated for trans staff or
clients. Cameron was part of the trans task force at their job. When speaking of the group’s
goals, Cameron stated,

94
I’m on a committee who is basically tasked with … how to improve trends, culture, and
experience for both clients and employees of the organization. So, we work on a lot of
things,. … Recently, … almost finished updating, like, making all the bathrooms genderneutral. And currently, they’re also working on kind of increasing uniformity of trans
services across all our locations so that, like, there’s not only the two locations that have
all the trans clients coming to them, like [some] of our [other] locations can be competent
in that care for trans folks. That type of thing.
Similarly to Cameron, Dana volunteered to be on their campus’s Gender Recognition Act
Committee to help make bathrooms, policies, and paperwork friendly to gender-diverse people.
Ian led the TG employee resource group at his job and advocated for change even though it had
an emotional toll on him. Both Mason and Robyn advocated for trans clients at their workplaces.
Other participants understood the social privileges they received for being White or being seen as
masculine, and they used that power to make room for others. Both Juan and Dennis know what
life was like as a woman, but now that they have transitioned, they are both cognizant of their
female colleagues’ challenges with sexism and are careful to let them talk and support their
voices. Ian helps mentor women of different races to find their place in IT security.
Some participants helped others through volunteering. Of the five who volunteered,
Jordan and Ellis started and ran nonprofits dedicated to helping others. Ellis formed a trans
nonprofit where they worked around 35 hours unpaid. Ellis eventually had to step down for “a
variety of reasons.” Jordan started a nonprofit that studied the intersection between being trans
and having a disability that will not be specified for anonymity. This is especially important as
Jordan plans to start a medical clinic that specializes in the LGBTQ community, and being outed

95
could ruin those plans. In their first nonprofit, Jordan has partnered with Stanford, published
papers, and awarded scholarships. As Jordan stated,
I realized if I had had the [knowledge] years prior, a lot of life decisions I made, I would
have made in a very different way to make sure [I had] the coping skills I needed and
how to survive in the workforce and things. I would have had a better understanding, and
I just want the next generation not to experience those things. I want them to have the
empowerment to be in control of their health and wellbeing. Being able to advocate for
themselves. I have a community list and resource where I have all sorts of different
information for people. Because I don’t want them to, I don’t want them to be afraid. And
I want them to have better educational and economic opportunities and a better quality of
life and to help with programs.
Jerry’s work is more personal as he wants to share his experience and knowledge with other TG
people. He wants to give them something he never had:
I think it’s important for us to be visible. And, for me, having personally gone through
what I went through and having the privilege of, you know, being able to transition early
and have very supportive parents. I think it’s important for me personally to share that
with other people. … I think that was, Like, 2009. When I transitioned, … at least from
what I knew, I felt like I was the only kid that existed that was transitioning at that time.
And especially now, I’ve noticed that there are more trans youth, and I think it’s
important for them to see that they grow up, they pursue their passions. [That] they have
friends, you know. I had joined … a trans group, and I made a lot of friends there. I never
really been a social person growing up, but now I have, like, another family. I’ve learned

96
that finding out that we exist and finding each other is a very great way to just navigate
life. So, want to be able to provide that for someone else.
This is especially poignant as Jerry is not out at work and could leave the community behind if
he wanted. He decided not to: “Yeah, it can be tempting at times because I was initially going to
do that. But I decided to just give it a try. And I found a lot of very close friends and community
through that.”
Discussion
This finding centered around how the workplace affects employees through their
psychological safety, their coping mechanisms, and, most importantly, how they use their
experiences to help others. Participants reported depression, anxiety, and stress from having to
deal with challenges that come from being TG. They often cope with those challenges by finding
family and friends in the LGBT community who can relate to and share their burdens. Some
participants see therapists to help them work through their issues. Others prefer solitude and
grounding rituals or just cuddling with their beloved dogs. Finally, the results show that the
participants are not just victims but are actually forces of change in the world as they use their
skills and knowledge to make changes in society and the workplace or just help other people’s
lives improve.
Summary
Chapter Four covers the findings based on the research questions. In looking at how
society influences employment, participants felt they had to be wary of where and what kind of
job they applied to in order to protect their physical and mental safety. Often, they had to choose
between money and being open about their identity. Some participants have selected either
option. At the same time, the societal increase in transphobia has reinforced cisnormativity,

97
which contributes to the challenges in the second research question of what issues TG people
face in the workplace.
The second finding was that the participants faced discrimination and identity denial in
unsupportive workplaces. At the same time, they were isolated and alone as coworkers shunned
them and felt that they could not be their authentic selves. This problem was exacerbated by HR
departments that were nonexistent, remote, or did not understand or assist in issues such as
discrimination, medical care, or transitioning.
The challenges led to Finding 3: the effect of the workplace on participants’
psychological safety. Participants reported issues with discrimination, anxiety, and stress. The
study then analyzed how participants coped with these challenges and their resiliency to help
others live better lives. Having analyzed the research, Section Five will discuss the findings as
well as recommendations.

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Chapter Five: Discussion
The TG community has been targeted and demonized recently by political and social
forces as conservative politics centered around grievances and cultural issues. The research
aimed to determine how the work life of TG people has been affected. After conducting the
research and analyzing the data, this section will discuss the conclusions and their implications.
It will also discuss recommendations and an economic argument as to why they should be
implemented.
Summary of Findings and Conclusion
This research was designed to find the answer to three research questions.
1. How do the sociopolitical changes affect the workplace regarding TG discrimination?
2. How does workplace discrimination manifest for TG employees, if at all?
3. How do TG individuals’ experiences in the workplace affect their psychological
safety?
Each of these questions was separated into individual findings with themes and subthemes, as
shown in Table 19.

99
Table 19
Summary of Findings
Research question Theme Subthemes
1 Employment location State Laws
Trans Medical Laws Community
Acceptance
1 Employment selection factors Workplace Acceptance
Medical Benefits
Shared Values
1 Cisnormativity Denial Of Trans-Identity
Cisnormative Privileges
2 Challenges due to TG Identity Feminine Presenting
Nonbinary Presenting
Masculine Presenting
2 Isolation Group Exclusion
Self-Isolation
2 Human resources Positive Experiences
Adequate Experiences
Hostile Experiences
3 Negative psychological effects Depression
Anxiety
Stress
PTSD
3 Coping mechanisms Community
Grounding Techniques
Family
Religion
3 Duty to help others Advocacy At Work
Advocacy Outside of Work
Jobs That Help the Community
Volunteering
The first finding is that the sociopolitical culture has made employment selection and
location very critical decisions as it can determine the participant’s safety, both physically and
mentally, and ability to receive trans-related medical benefits. This is consistent with the fact that
states are passing more transphobic laws while using transphobic rhetoric to gain support

100
(Cannon, 2022; Trans Legislation Tracker, 2023). In addition, participants see more cisnormative
behaviors and beliefs in the workplace, which would be understandable as surveys have shown
that views that there are only two genders have increased in the United States (Hatch et al., 2022;
Parker et al., 2022). Cisnormative viewpoints and behaviors contribute greatly to the higherthan-average unemployment rates that transpeople face (Baboolall et al., 2022; Van Borm &
Baert, 2018; Van Borm et al., 2020).
Finding 2 was that the participants faced many challenges at work due to their identity.
Due to differing presentations, transmen, transwomen, and nonbinary participants faced different
challenges. Transwomen faced more open hostility and sexual harassment, such as unwanted
touching and discriminatory remarks. They also frequently dealt with misgendering. This finding
mirrors Davidson’s (2016) finding that transwomen “have worse employment experiences than
nonbinary transgender people and transgender men” (p.1). Non-binary participants faced issues
of misgendering and identity denial as people would often refuse to use pronouns and assume
they were their birth gender. Some felt that they had to hide their identity for their own safety.
Transmen had the least issues with discrimination. While some were uncomfortable being placed
in stereotypical male roles, they did not express strong negative opinions.
Transgender status is secret at work to reduce complications and negative consequences.
This leads to the second theme of isolation, which includes self-isolation, where participants hide
their status and keep to themselves to prevent people from finding out. In addition, isolation
often comes from exclusion due to being TG. Overall, 37% of the participants were not out at
work, which is close to the 38% found in the 2021 McKinsey survey (Baboolall et al., 2022).
Finally, the last challenge faced was a lack of trans-competency in the human resource
department. This study found that only 16% of participants had positive sentiments about their

101
HR team. Twenty-one percent did not have an HR team due to being freelancers or working at
small businesses. This often led to managers or the owner having to navigate trans issues with no
knowledge or training. Forty-two percent felt that their HR was adequate, but they lacked
competency, policies, or procedures around trans people, such as transitioning or medical
benefits. Twenty-one percent had negative interactions such as hostility or ignoring
discrimination, leaving them in a predicament where they had no one to help them deal with
open hostility directed toward them.
The third finding shows that work and society have negative effects on participants, such
as depression and anxiety. They cope with the stress that they encounter through community and
therapy. The findings suggest that very few find comfort in their family or religion, as there was
only one mention of each out of the 19 participants. However, on a positive note, there was an
underlying theme of participants helping other marginalized communities through volunteering,
advocating, and using the participant’s privileges in promoting. This shows that the trans
community is often victimized; they are not victims as they fight to make the world better.
Implications for Practice
This research was conducted to understand trans-community experiences in the
workplace, as society has experienced a major shift in this community’s visibility and hostilities.
Results highlight the need for a stable and welcoming workplace. This population deals with
daily prejudice and biases, which take a toll. Companies need better-trained HR departments that
then conduct training, make policies and procedures, and enforce anti-harassment laws while
ensuring that trans people are protected. Also, society needs to stop demonizing the trans
community for existing and stop introducing laws that penalize them. Society must stop using
transphobic rhetoric to increase fear and hate against people trying to live their lives.

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Recommendations
This section will cover the cost of recommendations to help minimize Transgender
discrimination. While TG discrimination has unique aspects that must be understood, the
solutions are similar to those of all other types of discrimination. These recommendations are
based on the answers from participants when asked what changes they would like to be made at
the workplace and the societal level.
Society Recommendations
Participants were asked what changes they would like to see in society. The analysis of
the participants' answers created two societal recommendations. Recommendation 1 is to stop
passing discriminatory TG laws. Recommendation 2 is to make laws to ensure that TG
individuals can change their documentation to their preferred gender. This includes driver’s
licenses, passports, birth certificates, military documents, and educational records.
Recommendation 1: Stop Making New Anti-Transgender Laws
The most common change that participants made was to stop passing new laws that limit
transgender people. Ability to live equally as they desire. This is exemplified by Cameron’s
statement, “Well, the obvious ones first, like I would like not to see bills, attacking trans people,
and taking away their rights for absolutely no justifiable reason…”. Therefore, the first
recommendation is to stop making the issue worse. In 2023, 85 anti-TG laws were passed at the
state level, and there are 37 national bills in Congress. (Trans Legislation Tracker, 2023). Of
those passed on the state level, 12 would affect the workplace, whether it is through bathroom
usage laws and restrictions, denying identity change policies, or defining the definition of men
and women. Of the federal regulations, eight have repercussions to the workplace, such as
limiting TG participation in the military, an avenue for skills and experience that can serve

103
veterans their whole life, federal contractor standards, and limiting protections for government
jobs. By ceasing to create new Anti-transgender laws, transgender people would be able to have
less stress, anxiety, and, hopefully, discrimination that comes with this bill.
Recommendation 2: Make Laws to Allow Transgender People to Change Their
Documentation
Discrimination can complicate the hiring process for TG employees (Van Borm & Baert,
2018). This can be even worse when a transperson’s identification records do not match their
presenting gender. Robyn mentioned this subject. While she had her name changed, she had yet
to get her identification updated, thus making interviews awkward. She stated,
“… nobody likes to interview … I have to like be, like here's my name change
paperwork… this is what my license says is my gender marker, but that's not how
I present and like it's a lot of explaining that employers just don't want to deal
with…”
The incongruity is an immediate signal that a person is TG and may be used to refuse to hire the
person discriminately. Currently, states are proposing or actively prohibiting ID changes.
According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 68% of the respondents had no documents with
their preferred name and gender (James et al., 2016). In the same survey, 32% of the respondents
said that they were harassed or denied services because of their gender incongruity. This factor
possibly contributes to higher TG unemployment and more people out of the workforce.
Discussion
While participants wanted many societal changes, most were covered under the two
recommendations. Stop making anti-transgender laws and allow people the ability to change
their names and gender markers on their identifications. New anti-transgender laws were

104
mentioned by participants as a source of concern and anxiety. If passed, these laws will limit
transgender individuals’ ability to live as they choose by forcing them into gender roles to
survive in society. Borm and Baert’s study (2018) concluded that employers often worry about
transgender people fitting in with coworkers and clients when hiring. In addition, considering
the number of participants who kept their transgender status private from employers for
protection, transgender people being able to have identification that matched their gender
presentation can be imperative.
Workplace Recommendations
This section will discuss recommendations for workplaces to help make them more
inclusive to transgender people. When asked what changes they would like in the workplace,
these recommendations were derived from interviews with the participants. Recommendation 1
is to provide trans-inclusive healthcare benefits. Recommendation 2 is to provide higher
transgender competency training to Human Resources. Recommendation 3 is to institute
transgender best practices policies as started by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) (Human
Rights Campaign, 2023).
Recommendation 1: Provide Trans-inclusive Health Benefits
As evident in the study, many participants were concerned about trans-related healthcare
due to the cost of hormones, surgery, and various other procedures that the population undergoes
to feel authentic in their expression. While trans-healthcare may seem expensive due to the
small number of employees that utilize the benefits, the cost increase is less than 1% for most
employers because it is rarely utilized at around .074 claimants per thousand employees (Human
Rights Campaign, 2023). In 2013, a survey of costs was conducted for various companies, and
the study found that cost increases were largely negligible. The worst case was a 1% increase

105
(Herman, 2013). Considering how important trans medical benefits were to the participants, the
increase in cost should be marginal while sending a clear signal to all employees that the
company values everyone.
Recommendation 2: Provide Higher Transgender Competency Training to Human Resources
While it should be the obligation of all employees to treat people fairly, it is especially
important for Human Resources or its equivalent. As shown in the findings, many participants
had trouble with Human Resources regarding responding to discrimination, lack of
understanding of transgender issues, or even being a source of hostility. As the group that sets
workplace policies, investigates discrimination complaints, and helps explain benefits, Human
resources must understand trans issues. This is especially important when it comes to
transitioning on the job. Both Molly and Mary transitioned while working at their respective
companies. Mary had an overall positive experience at her workplace. They had a process that
allowed the process to go smoothly and supported her throughout. Thus, she had a reasonably
non-eventful transition that she enjoyed. She stated, “I announced that I was a trans woman in
front of everybody. And I felt really good. You know, it felt really good. That was my first job as
Mary…”. On the other hand, Molly did not trust her Human Resources department as she stated
that her HR was “not at all effective. [They] had a lot of like stuff going on there too. There's a
lot of harassment that went on …”. In her situation, Molly was body shamed and disrespected
and eventually had to leave the company. These two cases show that Human Resources can be a
vital ally for transgender employees in the workplace.
Recommendation 3: Institute Transgender Best Practices as Stated by HRC
The third recommendation is to institute the TG best practices as stated in the HRC’s
Corporate Equality Index (CEI) guide. These best practices are creating gender transition

106
guidelines and implementing the following: A trans-inclusive restroom policy, a gender-neutral
dress code, or allowing for optional sharing of pronouns in emails, nametags, or meetings
(Human Rights Campaign, 2023). The transition policy, as mentioned in Recommendation 2,
can play a significant part in determining the outcome for a transgender person, as in the cases of
Molly and Mary. In the findings, Hugh's story illustrates the difficulty that transgender people
can have with bathroom usage. This is especially true for nonbinary participants as they are
forced to choose a gender. This is the reason that both Cameron and Dana were advocating for
gender-neutral bathrooms at their jobs. While a gender-neutral dress code did not come up in the
study, it would have an erasure effect on nonbinary individuals if they had to wear gendered
uniforms. Finally, pronoun usage was a central theme across the interviews. This was prevalent
in the gender nonbinary interviews, as people would assume their gender. Thus, contributing to
cis-normativity and nonbinary erasure.
Discussion
Firms that provide LGBT support, on average, have higher firm value and overall
productivity (Shan et al., 2017; Wang & Schwarz, 2010), attract and retain highly skilled
workers (Pichler et al., 2018), and increase innovation (Hossain et al., 2020). There are a variety
of explanations for this advantage, such as that supporting the individual means that they will
reciprocate and work harder, others will feel better about working at a place that protects
everyone, all employees feel that they can be themselves at work, and other stakeholders such as
investors and companies will be attracted to organizations that protect everyone (Hossain et al.,
2020; Shan et al., 2017). Shan et al. (2017) and Fatmy et al. (2022) used the Human Rights
Campaign's annual Corporate Equality Index to show that there is a direct correlation between a
company's ranking on the CEI and its success among competitors. Thus, recommendations that

107
help transgender people should positively affect the bottom line. The recommendations
presented here align with these studies, and these were the types of processes measured during
these studies. By providing trans-inclusive healthcare benefits, training their Human Resources
to be trans-competent, and following the HRC guidelines, companies will not only make the
workplace more enjoyable and inviting for their transgender employees, but they will also enjoy
economic benefits themselves.
Future Research
This study was designed to look at TG employment experiences in the broader context of
a significant sociopolitical shift. A shift that has drastically increased TG visibility and,
subsequently, transphobia. This study researched the combination of the sociopolitical and
workplace context concerning the trans community. However, few studies have examined both
contexts to understand the cause of employment inequities. This study was done to help move
TG workplace experiences into a broader context of society, for work is often a microcosm of
the sociopolitical realm. Much prior research has found that people rarely check their prejudices
and biases at the workplace door. Researchers and businesses should develop new solutions and
reasons for their implementation, as the moral argument often does not work if people think it is
more moral to discriminate.
Conclusion
This study has presented workplace experiences during a backlash against TG people
after the legalization of gay marriage and the subsequent rise of cultural transphobia. The study
presented research that supports the claims. It then explained the study methods and the findings.
Finally, it provided both societal and organizational recommendations and some financial
reasons why the recommendations should or should not be adopted. This paper adds to the study

108
of how TG people confront, process, and, in some cases, learn to thrive in a society that has
become increasingly hostile to their existence.

109
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Appendix A: Research Question Grid
Interview questions RQ addressed Key concept addressed
How would you describe yourself
under the transgender umbrella? 3 Psychological Safety
Please describe your understanding
of what current societal views of
transgender individuals are.
2
Sociopolitical effects
What do you know about any
current policies, laws, or legal
issues being considered
concerning transgender
individuals?
1
Sociopolitical effects
How do the current societal
transgender issues make you feel? 1, 3 Psychological safety
How would you describe your transidentity at work? 2 Workplace discrimination
How would you describe your
workplace acceptance of TG
individuals 2
Workplace discrimination
How does being transgender affect
your career opportunities? 2 Workplace discrimination
What changes have you seen in the
workplace regarding TG
acceptance in the last 24 months?
2
Workplace discrimination
In what way, if any, do you attribute
changes due to societal change? 2 3 Sociopolitical effects
How does your workplace affect
you personally outside of work? 3 Psychological safety
What is your coping mechanism like
when dealing with stress? 3 Psychological safety
What changes would you like to see
in the workplace considering
trans-individuals
2 1
Solution: psychological safety
Appendix A: Research Question Grid

126
Appendix B: Recruitment Email
Topic: Looking for Research Study Participants. Can Earn $50
Hello (name withheld for confidentiality) Community,
My name is Jessica Stoneham, and I am a Doctoral Candidate at the University of
Southern California. I am part of a research study on how current social and political trends are
affecting the workplace of transgender workers. I am working with (name withheld for
confidentiality) to find participants in a research study to share their own personal experience.
The study is looking for adult, transgender identified people who have worked and lived in the
United States since 2017 or earlier. Applicants from all states are desired.
If selected, the interview will be about 45–60 minutes over Zoom at your convenience.
The interview will be entirely confidential. No names will be used in the study, and I will only
see all data. All interview participants will receive $50 as compensation for their time.
As a transgender woman myself, I am part of this community, having been a member of
this very support group, and I feel that now would be an excellent time to focus on our
community and how it is affected by changes in society and politics. If you are interested in
participating, please go to this link and take a short demographic survey (placeholder).
Thank you for your time,
Jessica Stoneham
Jstoneha@usc.edu

127
Appendix C: Demographic Survey
1. Would you like to participate in research on how current social and political trends in
attitudes toward transgender individuals affect the workplace?
o Yes
o No
2. Are you currently over 18 years of age?
o Yes
o No
3. Do you consider yourself transgender?
o Yes
o No
4. How would you describe your gender? (Open-ended)
5. What race/ethnicity do you consider yourself? (Open-ended)
6. Do you live in the United States?
7. If so, which state do you currently work in?
o U.S. States
8. If so, which state do you live in?
o U.S. States
9. How many complete years of employment have you had since 2016? (Open-ended)
10. What is your preferred first name? (Open-ended)
11. What would be the best email address to contact you? (Open-ended)

128
Appendix D: Interview Protocol
1. How would you describe your gender identity? What does that mean to you?
2. Please describe your understanding of what current societal views of transgender
individuals are.
a. How does that affect you personally?
b. Have they shifted?
c. When do you think the changes began?
3. What do you know about any current policies, laws, or legal issues being considered
concerning transgender individuals?
a. Can you give examples of ones you know of?
b. What are your feelings about them?
4. How do the current societal transgender issues make you feel?
a. What specifically?
b. What causes negative feelings?
c. What causes positive feelings?
5. How would you describe your trans-identity at work?
a. How comfortable are you at disclosing your identity?
b. Have you ever been outed?
c. If yes, how did you disclose it?
d. What were the reactions?
6. How would you describe your workplace acceptance of TG individuals?
a. How does that make you feel?
b. What is an example?

129
c. Is there any change between management and coworkers?
7. How does being transgender affect your career opportunities?
a. How do you feel about finding a new job?
b. Are you giving growth opportunities?
8. What changes have you seen in the workplace regarding TG acceptance in the last 36
months? How do these changes manifest themselves?
9. In what way, if any, do you attribute changes due to societal change? How do these
changes manifest themselves?
10. How does your workplace affect you personally outside of work?
a. How do you mentally feel?
b. How do you physically feel?
11. How does your race interact with being transgender?
12. What is your coping mechanism like when dealing with stress?
a. Social support group?
b. How does it help?
13. What changes would you like to see in the workplace considering trans-individuals?
How would that help?

130
Appendix E: Informed Consent
Study Title: The Politicization of the Trans-identity and its Effects on Workplace Transgender
Discrimination
Principal Investigator: Jessica Stoneham
Experimental Subject’s Bill of Rights
You have been asked to participate as a subject in a medical experiment. Before you decide
whether you want to participate in the experimental procedure, you have a right to the following
information:
California Law Requires That You Must Be Informed About:
1. The nature and purpose of the study.
2. The procedures in the study and any drug or device to be used.
3. Discomforts and risks reasonably to be expected from the study.
4. Benefits reasonably to be expected from the study.
5. Alternative procedures, drugs, or devices that might be helpful and their risks and benefits.
6. Availability of medical treatment should complications occur.
7. There is an opportunity to ask questions about the study or the procedure.
8. The ability to withdraw from the study at any time and discontinue participation without
affecting your future care at this institution.
9. Be given a copy of the signed and dated written consent form for the study.
10. The opportunity to consent freely to the study without the use of coercion.
I have carefully read the information contained above and I understand fully my rights as a
potential subject in this study.
Date: ___________________ Time: ________________
Signature: _______________________________________
(Research Participant)

131
Informed Consent for Research
Study Title: The Politicization of the Trans-Identity and its Effects on Workplace Transgender
Discrimination
Principal Investigator: Jessica Stoneham
Department: Rossier School of Education
24-Hour Telephone Number: N/A
Introduction
We invite you to take part in a research study. Please take as much time as you need to read the
consent form. You may want to discuss it with your family, friends, or your personal doctor. If
you find any of the language difficult to understand, please ask questions. If you decide to
participate, you will be asked to sign this form. A copy of the signed form will be provided to
you for your records.
Key Information
The following is a short summary of this study to help you decide whether you should
participate. More detailed information is listed later in this form.
1. Being in this research study is voluntary–it is your choice.
2. You are being asked to take part in this study because you indicated that you were a
transgender adult working in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to provide political,
societal, and work recommendations to eliminate transgender discrimination. Your
participation in this study will last for 3 months. Procedures will include filling out a
demographic survey. If selected, you will be asked to participate in a 45-minute
online teleconference interview on your workplace experiences as a transgender
person. Follow-up questions clarification may be conducted via email or
teleconference.
3. There are risks to participating in this study. The most common risk is emotional
discomfort due to the nature of the questions of discrimination. In addition, there is a
risk of a data security breach, which may expose personal information. More detailed
information about the risks of this study can be found under the “Risk and
Discomfort” section.
1. The possible benefits to you for taking part in this study may include $50 for
completing the study. In addition, this research will provide information on
transgender experiences in the workplace and recommendations to make a more
equitable society and workplace. Finally, the research will continue to expand the

132
understanding of transgender individuals’ experiences to help inform and guide future
research.
2. If you decide not to participate in this research, your other choices may include not
participating.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand how the increase in anti-transgender beliefs and
actions in politics and society affect the workplace for transgender workers. We hope to learn
about the personal experiences of transgender workers. You are invited as a possible participant
because you are a transgender adult who has been living and working in the United States since
2017. About 20 participants will take part in the study.
Procedures
If you decide to participate, this will happen: You will be asked to fill out the demographic
survey. Once selected, the investigator will set up a Zoom meeting for the interview. The
session will be 1 hour. Once the interview is completed, the investigator will contact you to
verify or clarify interview items.
Risk and Discomforts
Possible risks and discomforts you could experience during this study include emotional
discomfort due to the nature of the research on discrimination and gender identity. Also, there is
a slight chance of breach of confidentiality.
Breach of Confidentiality
There is a small risk that people not connected with this study will learn your identity or personal
information.
Benefits
There are no direct benefits to you from taking part in this study. However, your participation in
this study may help us learn how an increase in anti-transgender beliefs and sentiments in
politics and society affects the workplace for transgender individuals. This will provide
information for recommendations on how the community can be protected.
Privacy/Confidentiality
We will keep your records for this study confidential as permitted by law. However, if we are
required to do so by law, we will disclose confidential information about you. Efforts will be
made to limit the use and disclosure of your personal information, including research studies and
medical records, to people required to review this information. We may publish the information
from this study in journals or present it at meetings. If we do, we will not use your name.
The University of Southern California’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Human Subject’s
Protections Program (HSPP) may review your records.

133
Possible Future use of data and/or specimens
Your data will be maintained confidentially and may be shared with other researchers. The
research may be about similar or unrelated topics to this study. Our goal is to make more
research possible. We plan to keep your data and/or specimens indefinitely. If shared, data will
be transferred securely. If you are not comfortable with this, you should not participate in this
study.
This study will use Qualtrics. To understand the privacy and confidentiality limitations
associated with using Qualtrics XM, we strongly advise you to familiarize yourself with
QualtricsXM’s privacy policy (https://www.qualtrics.com/support/survey-platform/gettingstarted/data-protection-privacy/). USC has no jurisdiction or oversight of how data are used or
shared on third-party applications.
Alternatives
An alternative would be to not participate in this study.
Payments/Compensation
Payments for research participation are considered taxable income and participants may be
required to pay taxes on this income. If participants are paid $600 or more in total within a
calendar year for participation in one or more research studies, the University will report this as
income to the IRS and participants may receive an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1099.
This does not include any payments you receive to pay you back for expenses like parking fees.
Voluntary Participation
It is your choice whether to participate. If you choose to participate, you may change your mind
and leave the study anytime. If you decide not to participate or choose to end your participation
in this study, you will not be penalized or lose any benefits that you are otherwise entitled to.
Withdrawal from Study Instructions
Inform the primary investigator of the desire to withdraw at any time.
Contact Information Required
If you have questions, concerns, complaints, or think the research has hurt you, talk to the study
doctor or investigator at:
Jessica Stoneham
Email: jstoneha@usc.edu
This research has been reviewed by the USC Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB is a
research review board that reviews and monitors research studies to protect the rights and
welfare of research participants. Contact the IRB if you have questions about your rights as a
research participant or if you have complaints about the research. You may contact the IRB at
(323) 442-0114 or by email at hrpp@usc.edu.

134
Appendix F: Confirmation Email
Topic: Research Participation Confirmation
Hello XXXX,
My name is Jessica Stoneham. You have recently indicated interest in being a participant
in a research study on transgender workplace experiences. You have been selected as a
participant in the study. This will consist of a 1-hour interview via Zoom.
As a reminder, we will keep your records for this study confidential as far as permitted by
law. However, if we are required to do so by law, we will disclose confidential information
about you. Efforts will be made to limit the use and disclosure of your personal information,
including research studies and medical records, to people who are required to review this
information. We may publish the information from this study in journals or present it at
meetings. If we do, we will not use your name.
The University of Southern California’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Human
Subject’s Protections Program (HSPP) may review your records.
If you are still interested in participating, please contact me via email at
jstoneha@usc.edu. I will then arrange a time and date for the interview at your convenience.
If there are any questions, please contact me.
Thank you very much.
Jessica Stoneham
Jstoneha@usc.edu

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Asset Metadata

Creator Stoneham, Jessica Renee (author)

Core Title The politicization of the trans-identity and its effects on transgender employment

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2024-08

Publication Date 07/15/2024

Defense Date 06/26/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag coping,depression,Discrimination,Harassment,Isolation,nonbinary,OAI-PMH Harvest,transgender,transmen,transphobia,transwomen

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Riggio, Marsha (committee chair), Cates, Patrick (committee member), Malloy, Courtney (committee member)

Creator Email jstoneha@usc.edu,jstoneham320@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113997OHB

Unique identifier UC113997OHB

Identifier etd-StonehamJe-13232.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-StonehamJe-13232

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Stoneham, Jessica Renee

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20240715-usctheses-batch-1182 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu