Across the nation, our members are working to ensure that transgender people are treated fairly and equally at work. They're advocating for employment nondiscrimination laws, inclusive healthcare policies, and employment benefits, procedures, and practices that honor everyone's gender identity and expression.

Now, our members have a new resource that will help them secure critical victories for trans justice and equality.

Our partners at the Movement Advancement Project, the Center for American Progress, the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Center for Transgender Equality have released a new policy report: A Broken Bargain for Transgender Workers. This report is the most comprehensive to date of the inequities facing transgender workers in the American workforce.

Click here to download A Broken Bargain for Transgender Workers.

A Broken Bargain for Transgender Workers provides an in-depth look at the difficulties faced by transgender people as they seek to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families.

• Research shows that transgender people live in every state in the country.
• But only 17 states and the District of Columbia explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity/expression.

Without these critical legal protections, transgender people face discrimination when searching for a job and when seeking to keep a job during and after transition. Because of this pervasive discrimination:

• Transgender workers report chronically low wages, with 15% of transgender adults making $10,000 per year or less.
• The unemployment rate for transgender workers was twice the rate for the population as a whole (14% compared to 7%), with the rate for transgender people of color reaching as high as four times the national unemployment rate.

Transgender people who are employed face daily challenges at work -- and without legal protections, they’re often unable to seek help:

• 48% of transgender people faced supervisors and coworkers who inappropriately shared information about them.
• Another 41% faced inappropriate questions.
• 45% were referred to by the wrong pronoun, repeatedly and on purpose.
• About one-third (32%) were forced to present in the wrong gender to keep their jobs.
• About one-fifth (22%) were denied access to the appropriate bathroom.
• And one in 14 (7%) were the victims of physical violence at work.

The challenges that transgender people face aren’t confined to finding and keeping good jobs. Transgender people also struggle to gain equal access to job-related benefits and to obtain adequate health insurance coverage.

• Today, more than 180 federal laws and thousands of state laws aim to support American workers in accessing good jobs in safe workplaces, having equal opportunities to succeed and advance at work, and receiving fair wages and benefits.
• Unfortunately, none of these federal laws, and few state laws, explicitly protect transgender workers on the basis of gender identity/expression.
• As a result, transgender adults are denied access to critical benefits such as family leave and health insurance.

A Broken Bargain for Transgender Workers also offers a number of recommendations for beginning to address the disparities and challenges that plague transgender people in our country. It suggests critical policy changes that lawmakers and employers can enact in order to ensure that all people are treated fairly and equally in the workplace.

Federation members can continue to work in their individual states to enact legal protections for transgender workers, to ensure transgender employees are given equal access to all benefits like medical leave, and to revise state insurance laws so that transgender workers can obtain individual health insurance that meets their healthcare needs.

Armed with critical policy analysis and resources like A Broken Bargain, we can work to ensure equality for transgender workers -- state by state.

Click here to download A Broken Bargain for Transgender Workers.