1. Diversity and Inclusion: LGBT Listening Session
APTA transit Board members workshop
April 2016

2. Diversity Council Initiative
Emphasis on working to develop activities and resources that APTA member organizations can use to enhance inclusiveness of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community
Co-chairs Paul Larrousse, Celia Kupersmith and Barry Barker

3. The National Landscape

4. Supreme Court Decision
2013 case of United States v. Windsor, which invalidated a key portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and allowed for the U.S. government to begin recognizing legally valid same-sex marriages
June 26, The nation’s highest court determined that the U.S. Constitution requires states to license and recognize marriages between two people of the same sex, making marriage equality officially

5. Federal Law Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of “sex”
Interpretation by EEOC and some courts
Protection based on gender stereotyping and gender non-conformity
Protection for transgender employees
Schroer v. Billington (District Court for District of Columbia) (2008)
Macy v. Holder (EEOC – 2012)
“Addressing discrimination based on gender identity is a priority for the commission [EEOC]” – David Lopez, EEOC General Counsel

6. State Laws Sexual Orientation
22 States + D.C. prohibit discrimination in private and public employment:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin

7. State Laws Gender Identity
19 states + D.C. prohibit discrimination in private and public employment:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington

8. Definitions
“People will forget what you said and did, but people never forget how you made them feel.”
-Maya Angelou

9. Definitions Just so we’re all on the same page. . . .
Sexual orientation
Gender Identity
Gender Expression
Gay and Lesbian
Bi-Sexual
Transgender
Queer or Questioning

10. Sexual Orientation
An individual’s experience of being physically and/or or emotionally attracted to men, women, both men and women, other types of gender expression, or people with any gender expression

11. Gender Identity
Gender identity is an individual’s sense of being a man or woman, falling outside or in between the gender binary, or combining aspects of multiple genders
Everyone has a gender identity

12. Gender Expression
Gender expression describes the external characteristics and behaviors that are socially defined as either masculine or feminine, such as dress, mannerisms, speech patterns, and social interactions

13. LGB…
Gay: A person who is attracted primarily to members of the same sex.
Lesbian: A woman who is primarily attracted to other women
Bisexual: A person with significant attraction and desire for both sexes, both sexually and romantically. Being bisexual does NOT imply confusion or wanting/having more than one partner.

14. Transgender
Transgender people are people who have a gender identity or gender expression that is different from that traditionally associated with their assigned sex at birth
Transgender women are transgender people who identify as women
Transgender men are transgender people who identify as men

15. Transgender
Some people who identify as transgender do not identify as men or as women
Some people who meet the definition of transgender do not identify with the word transgender
Transgender people span all communities, backgrounds, races, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, and abilities

16. Queer….or Questioning
Was, in the past, a pejorative and offensive term
Still is to some people inside of the LGBTQ community
Today, more of an umbrella terms and includes anyone who:
Wants to identify as queer and
Who feels somehow outside of societal norms in regard to gender or sexuality

17. LGBT Inclusion at Fortune 500 Companies
As of 2015:
89% include sexual orientation in their non- discrimination policies
66% include gender identity and/or expression (15 years ago, this was about 3%)
66% provide equivalent medical benefits between domestic partners
25% provide transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, including coverage of surgical procedures

18. LGBT Employees’ Workplace Experiences
Studies have indicated that 58% of LGBT employees have heard jokes or derogatory comments about LGBT people at work
An analysis of over 50 studies since 1992 showed between 7% and 41% of LGBT workers report being verbally or physically harassed or having workspace vandalized
Source: Movement Advancement Project, Human Rights Campaign and Center for American Progress, A Broken Bargain: Discrimination, Fewer Benefits and More Taxes for LGBT Workers (Full Report), May 2013.

19. LGBT Employees’ Workplace Experiences
Between 10% and 21% of LGBT workers report that bias against their sexual orientation contributed to a negative performance evaluation
11% to 28% say such bias is why they were passed over for a promotion
Another survey found that nearly one in 10 “out” workers reported losing a job in the past five years because of their sexual orientation
Source: Movement Advancement Project, Human Rights Campaign and Center for American Progress, A Broken Bargain: Discrimination, Fewer Benefits and More Taxes for LGBT Workers (Full Report), May 2013.

20. Key Challenges for Employers
”I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

21. Key Challenges for Employers
Interviewing and Hiring
Harassment and Discrimination
Employee Policies

22. What are your best practices?
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
― Maya Angelou