GC: Is anything transphobia?

submitted by peakingatthemomentTranssexual (natal male), HSTS from (self.GCdebatesQT)

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[–]loveSloaneDebate King 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I have a question, and I haven’t really fully formed an opinion on the answer yet myself, because I think there are a lot of variables.

Is it transphobic to not hire a trans person, not because you dislike trans people, but because of the potential issues having a trans person on staff could bring up? There’s a lot of exceptions that have to be made for trans people that may cause discomfort for the rest of the staff, there’s the issue of opening the door for a lawsuit or some type of backlash if the needs and wishes of the trans employee aren’t put ahead of the rest of the staff. So, I guess I’m wondering if someone knows that hiring a trans person could cause issues in the workplace, is it transphobic to not hire them? I think for me personally, I’d tell a trans person that I’d hire them and protect them, but they’d have to respect the boundaries of the other employees when it comes to certain spaces and I’d tell my staff that if they aren’t comfortable with using pronouns of the opposite sex for a trans person, the neutral pronouns (they/them) would have to be used as a type of compromise- but even that could be taken as transphobic. So what is the proper way for an employee to hire a trans person, but ensure the comfort of all employees in the work place? Or is it understandable to not hire a trans person if you suspect it could cause issues? I think it’s better to find compromises that both the trans employee and the rest of the staff can agree on, but idk

[–]adungitit 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

they’d have to respect the boundaries of the other employees when it comes to certain spaces

This is the problem with a lot of trans "rights"; they directly encroach on female rights with the special treatment they require. You end up forcing women to share bathrooms with men and to call men women, you call them bigots just for the act of recognising men and the oppression they overwhelmingly put women through. Entertaining wishful thinking rooted in a misogynistic ideology that feminism has been fighting against for decades is a pretty different requirement compared to, you know, not thinking of women or black people as subhuman and biologically inferior.

[–]peakingatthemomentTranssexual (natal male), HSTS[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

This is an interesting question and I may not have a perfect answer. I think if it’s a like a legal concern where you aren’t sure if you can have a policy everyone is comfortable with that is also legal, the I’d be sympathetic to someone not feeling like they could hire someone. If it just like I don’t want to create a internal policy around trans people that enables me to be able to hire a trans person, then I feel like that might be transphobic. Nothing says if you have a policy, at least in the United States, that you enforce preferred pronouns or have the employee use spaces based on their gender identity (even if it’s considered best practices). If you had a policy (that is legal) and your potential trans new hire wasn’t comfortable with it, they don’t have to take the job. If they do take the job and your policies are clearly stated (and also legal), you should be well protected.