Just listened to the message from the McDonald’s manager to a transgender applicant. I can’t seem to get over how angry the voice sounds on the tape. “You will never..” haunts me in the weirdest way. I think because even though you don’t see this person, you hear them loud and clear. The contempt in their voice is palpable.

I am the first to say that I don’t know all the details of this story. I just stumbled upon it while on Twitter. But it started me thinking about how being transgender or even having a transgender child affects employment. Recently I heard a friend say that she may have to change jobs because her child’s transgender identity is a hot topic in the office. She has been ostracized because her co-workers choose to discuss and evaluate her personal life publicly. When did we lose our sense of decency people?

Knowing the angst I feel with my child attending school stealth, I can only begin to imagine how difficult it is for trans adults to find and maintain employment. Unless you have had Sex Reassignment Surgery you cannot have your birth certificate changed where we live. Your birth name and gender marker is on every document you need to provide for employment when you think of it. How to remain stealth and still work?

Unfortunately once a person is identified as transgender they are a target for hatred and violence. That is the reality today and it breaks my heart. What will it take for people to understand that there is no deceit in being your true self? Your gender identity should not force you to share personal information with a world that is not yet ready to understand.

So what is the silver lining? That one more story is told. One more lesson is learned. And one more transgender individual gets the rights that they deserve for just being a person like everyone else.