SF LGBT Center Launches Mass Transit Ad Campaign to Encourage Employers to Hire Transgender Workers

The SF LGBT Center announced that it has launched #HireTrans, a mass transit PSA campaign aimed at encouraging employers to hire transgender workers. The campaign --- conceived and designed by the Center's Trans Employment Program--- will run on SFMTA Muni buses and trains, and in Muni and BART stations platforms starting this week until the end of March.

"We are launching this much-needed campaign because trans and gender non-conforming (GNC) people face enormous challenges when we are looking for work or advancing in our careers," said SF LGBT Center Director of Economic Development Clair Farley. "The numbers are startling. As trans people we are twice as likely to have a college degree, but three times as likely to be unemployed. Nine out of ten of us have experienced workplace harassment and discrimination. The campaign highlights these harsh realities and asks employers and allies to hire, respect, and support trans people."

"We explicitly named the campaign #HireTrans because we want trans and GNC people to use social media to share their own experiences in the job market and in the workforce. We want them to feel empowered, that they're not alone, and that there are people that care about them," Farley continued.

This first-of-its-kind educational campaign--- which is the next phase of the online #HireTrans campaign launched last year --- highlights the challenges transgender jobseekers face when searching for employment and finding workplaces that are inclusive and value diversity.

The ads feature seven transgender individuals working in a range of industries: Alic (he, him), a pediatric oncology nurse; Caleb (he, him), a lawyer; Candy (she, her), a supervising coordinator; Frida (she, her, they, them), a health outreach worker; Mia (she, her), a director at a youth advocacy group; Miss Peaches Montrace (she, her), an entertainer; and Sophie (she, her), a data scientist.

SFMTA is donating all the ad space and BART is providing reduced-rate pricing.

The campaign, photographed by Samantha Cooper and Bob Stafford, leads up to Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) on March 31, a day to celebrate trans and GNC people's lives and bring attention to the staggering rates of discrimination, homelessness, underemployment, and unemployment experienced by the community. The Trans Employment Program is holding a special event on March 31, 2017 at SOMArts in collaboration with community partners.

The Trans Employment Program at the SF LGBT Center is a unique, collaborative program designed to help create inclusive workplaces and jobs for trans and gender non-conforming people across all industries. Launched in 2007 as TEEI (Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative), the Program is the first city-funded program to help transgender and GNC people get back to work and address the economic barriers facing the community. The program provides a wide range of services including: job referrals and career coaching, navigating being out at work or transitioning on the job, resume review and managing references, hiring and community events, mentoring, and legal services.

Since the program started, it has connected trans jobseekers with thousands of jobs in diverse, equal, and rewarding workplaces.