Staton Fired

Well, they've done it. The City Commision voted 5-2 to officially fire Steve (Susan) Stanton. Good followup report at the Towle Road blog.

I never really thought they would reverse their decision. The council members who voted to fire him originally were sure not to change their minds in just a little bit of time. All the activism to educate people and the Commission was to fall on deaf ears because they were not in a place to listen constructively. They were angry, they felt betrayed, lied to, let down. This is a common reaction. Spouses and significant others transsexuals often have this same reaction. They need the time and space to get over this reaction. For some people, they never get over it. Transphobia runs deep and wide in America, especially the South.

Now it remains to be seen if Stanton will bring a suit against the commission for discrimination. Many are urging him to do so. I haven't heard anything from him saying he has changed his mind about that yet. Many people believe he has a case and he is represented by legal counsel that is pretty substantial in dealing with discrimination cases.

I really feel for Stanton, having this media circus surrounding what is a very personal, transformational and emotional process. I transitioned on the job, in public, but had very good support from my workplace. Thank the powers that be that I live in an area that is more progressive in its thinking and a company that values employees' contributions above their private lives.

An update on the law covering the Stanton dismissal case

Dr. Jillian Todd Weiss has posted an update on her blog about the law in Florida regarding discrimination against transgender workers, especially those employed by government agencies. Good read, but it's not clear-cut that Stanton would win a case against the City Commission. That would depend on whether the court held any bias against transsexuals.

Stanton requests a public hearing

Steve(Susan) Stanton, the beleaguered Largo, Florida, city manager who has been dismissed simply for revealing his desire to change his gender, has decided to appeal the dismissal and is calling for a public hearing into the matter. This is good. He has a lot of support, there are plenty of people who think the city commission acted rashly and with a horrid display of bigotry and discrimination. This represents the next step in the process. Let's hope the voices of inclusion, reason, and calm win out over the voices of hatred, fear, and misunderstanding.

Link to GaySouthFlorida blog

Largo lets Stanton go in blatant round of bigotry and discrimination

Well, the Largo city commission has voted. 5-2 in favor of getting rid of Steve(Susan) Stanton, the city manager who a week ago announced his [Stanton has asked that he be referred to by his male name and male pronouns until he transitions] intention to transition to become a woman. The Mayor stood by him, and did one other commission member, but the rest bolted and ran like fearful little rats, showing that they don't even put their votes where they say they should, as they passed a resolution earlier prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. I don't know where this puts them, but I think Stanton has to bring a suit against them, and he has said he isn't going to do that.

The St. Petersburg Times has been doing good reportage on this issue, very factual, very balanced, without any sensationalism:

• Largo city votes on dismissal
• Stanton surprised by vote
• Survey: Largo unfair to Stanton

There are places you can go to voice your opinion as well. The National Sexuality Resouce Center at San Francisco State is holding a petition that they will send to the Largo commission. There's also a website devoted to helping save Stanton's position: http://www.savestanton.com/.

I think this is by far the most blatant and horrible cases of discrimination ever carried out in public. There is no possible doubt he is being fired because he is a transsexual.

Unfortunately, there are so many other cases of firing of transsexuals that happens on a regular basis that never make it to the national news or at least the national blogosphere like this one has. It is a constant threat to transsexuals everywhere, even in places where they are supposedly protected. There are any number of reasons one can fire someone; it isn't that hard to trump up charges against someone if one finds them objectionable.

When I first approached the coming out process at work, the division manager's reaction was typical. He was dead-set against it and would not allow it. I didn't know what he was going to have me do, and luckily, I never had to find out. Several of his subordinates took him in hand and explained matters to him, and he also spent time researching on his own, and came to the conclusion that it was not a bad thing as he feared, and so I had no trouble with my transition on the job.

Yet, later I was to feel the discrimination, as I lost jobs that I would have gotten before, lost influence that I had before, and was cut off from client interactions that would have let me perform my job. Eventually, my ranking dropped, and as a result, I was laid off when the mandatory layoffs came about. They had a reason: my pay was high, but my performance was low: it said so on the paper. What it didn't say was the lost opportunities to perform my job. Admittedly, at this time, I was dealing with some tremendous emotional problems as well, which I think should have been taken into account, but were not.

Now, I am unemployed again, and I'm afraid that people may "read" something in me that is not quite right. Even if they don't recognize me as transgendered, they may see something they don't quite understand, and that is a big ding in the hiring process. I have to act through that fear to overcome it, and compensate for it; I have to be that much better because of it. And then, there is the problem of what happens when they do find out about my past when they run the background check? Not all companies have gender identity non-discrimination clauses. Even though the state I'm in (California) has a law on the books proclaiming gender identity and expression as protected, it doesn't necessarily translate into action at the practical level. And proving discrimination is so hard because you have to show direct cause or a trend.

So in addition to being depressed because I'm unemployed, I'm scared that I won't find a new job because of the transgender issue.

a very public outing

Tampa Bay Newspapers : Largo Leader

"Stanton tell employees he’s transgendered in an e-mail
By SUZETTE PORTER

LARGO – City Manager Steve Stanton sent out an e-mail to employees dated Wednesday, Feb. 21, announcing that he is transgendered and intends to become a woman." [Link]


This is a very public outing and a very public transition. It will be interesting to see how the residents and the government of Largo handle this situation.