The Diversity Job and Career Fair that took place Monday at LA City College was something of a milestone. The entire fair was dedicated to creating a safe space for transgendered persons to match with employers like Target, Amazon, NBC Universal and the LA Fire Department, who were eager to set up tables and meet with applicants.
Presented in collaboration with the City of Los Angeles Workforce Development Board, the Department on Disability and the LA LGBT Center, the event was the first of its kind in the city. Philip Starr, executive director of Managed Career Solutions, was quoted in the Los Angeles Daily News saying, “I think we’re doing something really new. It shouldn’t be, but it is.”
California is progressive enough to include protection from employment discrimination based on gender identification in the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act. Nonetheless, sometimes applicants can feel uncomfortable applying to work for a new company where they don't always know if they will be embraced. The desire to alleviate that potential for discomfort inspired the organizers of the Diversity Job Fair to create an environment where transgendered people would feel respected and open.
Compared to the public at large, studies have found that transgendered persons are twice as likely to be unemployed than their counterparts, and trans persons of color are four times as likely, which creates an additional sense of urgency to connect this community with opportunities to work. In March of this year, Los Angeles established a permanent council of transgendered community leaders to advise the city government, making it the largest American city to do so.