Clippings

Society for Human Resource Management Online   Nov 2005

Gender Identity In The Workplace

...The idea of protecting gender identity in the workplace appears to have emerged in the early 1990s mainly to help employees who were changing gender in the workplace...

According to GenderPAC, a nonprofit group dedicated to ending discrimination and violence caused by gender stereotypes, an increasing number of companies are expanding their nondiscrimination policies to prohibit bias based on gender identity and gender expression. In general, the policies are aimed at barring unequal treatment based on assumptions of what is appropriate, but divergent, behavior for men and women....(read story)

New York Times   Mar 4, 2005

A Quest for a Restroom That's Neither Men's Room Nor Women's Room

...The idea is to make sure that transgender people (an umbrella term that can include transsexuals, cross-dressers and those with a fluid, androgynous identity who do not consider themselves completely male or female) can use bathrooms without fear of harassment... 

..."Students are looking hard at the right to express their gender, a painful rite of passage for every young adult," said Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition...(view full article)

Chicago Tribune   Mar 1, 2005

Judges Embrace Mandatory Makeup

...female employees suffered a grooming rules setback in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Reno, when a three-judge panel ruled that women can be required to wear makeup.

...According to Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Washington-based Gender Public Advocacy Coalition,...the decision "would be "right at home in the 19th Century..."(view full article)

Salt Lake Tribune   Jan 9, 2005

'Personal Best' Program is Big Step Backward

...A new federal appellate court ruling means women can be fired for refusing to wear makeup or for failing to tease, style or curl their hair.

"This ruling would be right at home in the 19th century," says Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Gender Public Advocacy Coalition. "Women long ago won the right to be judged on the quality of their work, not whether they conform to some outdated standard of feminine attractiveness..."(view full article)

IndyStar   Nov 28, 2004

Today's moms seek the best of two worlds

...Flexibility is a must for most new moms, but it often means giving up something.

That may be simply a loss of income. But some working mothers with flexible schedules give up much more -- promotions, raises and even respect in the workplace, said Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Washington-based Gender Public Advocacy Coalition.

They become known by their employers as second-class employees....(view full article)

Houston Chronicle   Nov 6, 2004

A report card on gender policies

...Many companies that added the term to their policies were approached by Human Rights Campaign or Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, officials said...

Organizations that include gender identity and expression on their discrimination policies protect themselves from such lawsuits, Wilchins said. "Companies do this because it's the right thing. But it helps prevent them from also getting whacked with suits, because employees are getting training."...(view full article)

Washington Post   Nov 3, 2004

Companies Add Gender Identity to Anti-Bias Policies

..."This is almost a 'freebie'" because it doesn't cost a company anything, unlike providing same-sex partner benefits, said Riki Wilchins , executive director of Washington-based GenderPAC, which spends much of its time training organizations on gender expression.

Larger companies are more likely to offer health care benefits for same-sex partners, according to recent figures. They show 42 percent of the Fortune 500 companies offer same-sex benefits, while a Society for Human Resource Management survey this year found 27 percent of 456 respondents offering domestic-partner benefits. ...(view full article)

San Francisco Chronicle   Oct 31, 2004

Single-Minded

...It's not easy being a boy either. The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition last month released figures that showed that sexual harassment claims by men were on the rise. They now account for 15 percent of all claims—an increase of 62 percent from 2003

The overwhelming majority of the claims were filed because of male-on- male harassment, says GenderPAC. The grievances included bullying with sexual taunts, calling men female pronouns and threats of sexual aggression -- all in an attempt to "publicly challenge their masculinity." I can imagine that these offenders are equally offensive to women. Perhaps it's time we all started carrying baseball bats or, yes, working on those communication skills... (view full article)

The DeMoines Register   Sept 23, 2004

Students act against gender stereotyping

...She called the response positive. "Lots of people were really interested in why I was doing it and how I came up with it," she said.Student groups at 24 campuses nationwide, including Cornell College and Iowa State University in the state, began a coordinated campaign this week to end bullying caused by gender stereotyping.

The campaign, called "Drop the Labels, Back to School," is sponsored by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, or GenderPAC, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., working to end discrimination and violence linked to gender stereotyping...(view full article)

Newsday New York City   Aug 23, 2004

Sex discrimination: where to go for help

...Resources for workers looking for information and support, and for employers looking to improve their work cultures:

Gender Public Advocacy Coalition. Washington, D.C.-based organization working to end gender-stereotype-related discrimination and violence. Provides resources to those with complaints, as well as to employers looking to bring more sensitivity to their workplaces. Call 202-462-6610 or go to www.gpac.org.....(view full article)

Newsday New York City   Aug 23, 2004

Men aren't immune from attacks

...But they also can stem from locker room-type bullying in which bosses or coworkers harass a colleague for veering from gender stereotypes, such as coming across as too effeminate. (There still is no federal protection for harassment based solely on sexual orientation.)

This is a "new liability" for employers, says Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy, training and educational group in Washington, D.C....(view full article)

Forbes   Issue unknown

Transsexuals new focus of companies' legal protection

In a poll of 392 male-to-female transsexuals in San Francisco in 1997, nearly half the respondents reported facing job discrimination, while a quarter said they faced housing discrimination.

"Even though it's only a patchwork, at this point this is how civil rights proceeds," said Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition in Washington, D.C. "Ten years ago there was none of this. All this has happened very quickly."...(view full article)

UPI   June 8, 2004

Cong. diversity pledge gets 150th signer

Two gay rights groups announced Tuesday 150 members of Congress had agreed in writing to ban gender-related sex discrimination in their offices.

The "Diversity Statement," promoted jointly on Capitol Hill by the Human Rights Campaign and the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, commits signatories to ban discrimination in their congressional offices based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity and expression...(view full article)

Time Magazine   June 18, 2001

New Agents of Change

... GenderPAC works to protect everyone's right to transcend gender stereotypes.  A tiny niche?  Tell that to the Nevada woman who was fired after she stopped wearing make-up; GenderPAC is aiding her in court...

"There are many people who do not fit or want to fit in binary genders," Wilchins says.  "People have complex lives and bodies."(view full article)