By Ramy Eletreby

In the three months since the launch of the landmark Transgender Job Placement Program at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, the transgender community has come out in full force to take advantage of this new source of hope and opportunity. The program offers a wide range of services for transgender persons seeking employment, from resume building to cover letter writing and preparing for the interview process.

According to Lynn Bridges, transgender job placement specialist at the Center, this is one of three such programs nationwide designed to provide the transgender community with an alternative to living and working on the streets, which too often happens after they are rejected for employment. The program functions by developing skills and fostering the confidence necessary to join the mainstream workforce. With more political pressure to include transgender-inclusive workplace policies and the launch of skills-building programs in L.A., San Francisco and New York, many companies have started hiring transgender employees.

“The Target in West Hollywood contacted the Transgender Law Center because they're developing a transgender employee policy, and I'm going to help their HR department with the development of that,” Bridges told IN Los Angeles magazine. “A lot of major corporations are embracing diversity far beyond ethnicity and even sexuality. I really believe that one of the main reasons that companies are doing so is that they're really looking for good employees. If you're a good employee with a good work ethic, that will carry you a long way.”

Funded by a grant from the City of West Hollywood, the program supplements the city's efforts to reduce health risks in the transgender community. Transgender adults often are forced to accept low-level and low-paying jobs or sex work to survive, which makes them vulnerable to a myriad of health risks.

“Historically, and unfortunately,” says Susan Cohen, director of health education and prevention at the Center, which runs the Transgender Job Placement Program, “one of the careers of choice for transgender persons has been prostitution, which has seen high instances of HIV and STD rates in the transgender community. Because the transgender community doesn't have role models, this has been a population that's gone unsupported. It makes sense to put this job placement program here in this department because we're actively working to prevent newer cases of HIV and STDs.”

When Bridges transitioned in 1977, she believed she had no choice but to turn to sex work, which resulted in her contracting HIV and later being imprisoned.

“In the ‘80s, when I was out there, I bought into that stereotype that you could only either do sex work or get into a drag show,” says Bridges. “But I can look back now—you know hindsight is 20-20—and I know I still had options and I still had skills, but I thought that because I was transgender, my skills were a moot point.”

Anyone who identifies as transgender is eligible for the job placement program, which also offers assistance in overcoming barriers to employment such as criminal records, gender and name change, substance abuse, housing, HIV/STD issues, hormones, as well as grooming for legitimate employment.

“I've had clients come in with great resumes, and all they need is some help finding a job, and I've had those that need to get into an education program and get their GED,” explains Bridges. “It's very different for everybody, so we don't cookie cutter it. We will be having computer classes, life skills and career development classes to help with resumes and cover letters.”

A self-described life coach, Bridges can draw upon the struggles in her own life to offer guidance and support to her clients as they deal with the major identity issues she dealt with years ago.

“For some people, transitioning can be like a slide, and for others it can be a real struggle because of their family ties or because they don't have things in place ready to fully transition,” explains Bridges. “In my life, I was on track, then I got way off track, then I got back on track. Some people have never been on track. The type of life that I talk about, they want to believe it so bad but they still fluctuate and are still doing street work and trying to get themselves together.”

To aid in the psychological and social issues that come with transitioning, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Transgender Equality recently jointly released a groundbreaking new resource guide, “Coming Out as Transgender.” Available online at www.hrc.org, the guide offers step-by-step guidance for talking with friends, co-workers and family about being transgender.

Outside L.A., San Francisco and New York, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition will converge in Washington, D.C., during Transgender Lobby Week May 16-17 to push for federal transgender-inclusive legislation, especially in the areas of hate crimes and employee non-discrimination. On April 24, the House of Representatives introduced the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would protect against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. ENDA would provide legal recourse for transgender people in the 42 states that do not provide protection on the basis of gender identity and expression.

As this new legislation sparks hope for the professional future of transgender persons in the workplace, Bridges remains humble about her own past, rife with professional and legal struggles.

“When I look back over my life and the fact that I am HIV-positive and I've been incarcerated, I see that I had to just get over myself,” says Bridges. “I've had my challenges, but that's life. I don't always resort to, 'Oh, it's because I'm transgender.' We all have our own struggle. When it gets down to it, the universal laws apply to all of us.”

For more information on the Transgender Job Placement Program at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, see www.laglc.org or contact Lynn Bridges at (323) 860-7366.