A Sense of Belonging

Victor Lim wasn’t sure whether to reveal he is a transgender man when he applied for a position at Bank of America in January 2020. 

His loved ones advised him against divulging that information, fearing how the company and his co-workers might treat him. And Lim had his own concerns, despite having been out to his previous employer. A lack of transgender professionals in the senior ranks at that company had caused Lim to worry about his long-term career prospects, which is why he was also considering other jobs.

Victor Lim overcame his initial concerns about coming out during his recruitment at Bank of America and turned his experience into a positive one. 

“Being a young professional less than three years out of school, I was very nervous about coming out and possibly damaging my career opportunities in the long run,” says the 26-year-old Queens, N.Y., native.

Lim became interested in working at Bank of America after hearing a presentation by one of the company’s senior leaders at an LGBTQ event in 2019. Listening to a transmasculine employee openly discussing their supportive workplace inspired Lim.

He felt comfortable enough to come out during his second interview. “The very first question the interviewer asked upon reading my legal name was ‘Vicky or Victoria—which do you go by?’ ” Lim recalls. “I took the leap and said, ‘I actually prefer Victor.’ And it was a nonissue. They just said, ‘Oh, OK, we can do that.’ ”

Lim is now a vice president, senior business control specialist, and he has become active in the company’s transgender employee resource group. He even spoke on a panel last fall at the Out & Equal Workplace Summit, an event he attended in 2019. 

“It was such an honor to be that representation for others, especially the next generation,” Lim says. “That’s why I was willing to put myself out there despite all the fears my loved ones and I had.”

Change for the Better

The transgender community has let out a collective sigh of relief, thanks to the change in administration and a recent Supreme Court decision. President Joe Biden has signed executive orders that expand federal nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ individuals and ended his predecessor’s ban on transgender people serving in the military. In March, Biden’s pick for assistant secretary of health, Dr. Rachel Levine, made history when she became the first openly transgender presidential appointee to be confirmed by the Senate. 

In the 2020 case Bostock v. Clayton County, the Supreme Court determined that LGBTQ individuals are protected from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The ruling was significant because many employers weren’t certain what constitutes discrimination and often failed to give such complaints proper scrutiny, explains attorney Jillian Weiss, whose New York City law firm specializes in representing transgender clients in discrimination cases. 

“Now that we have Bostock, this has become like any workplace discrimination issue—you have two sides and you try to figure out what happens,” she says. “But the idea that you’re just not providing protection to these people is gone.”

More positive developments could be on the way. The Equality Act, which passed the House in February 2021, would codify the Bostock ruling by specifically including sexual orientation and gender identity in U.S. civil rights laws. As the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) notes, the Equality Act would update sections of the Civil Rights Act that cover federally funded programs and public accommodations to include prohibitions on sex discrimination.

The current environment contrasts sharply to the atmosphere before the change in administration, according to members of the LGBTQ community. Previous policies eliminated many protections for transgender individuals from discrimination in the workplace, housing, medical care and school sports. Murders of transgender and nonbinary people surged, hitting an all-time high of at least 44 killings in 2020, according to the HRC. 

And on the state level, introductions of anti-transgender legislation have already hit a record high this year as state legislators have put forth more than 100 bills primarily targeting transgender Americans’ participation in sports and access to medical care. One such bill, passed in Arkansas, bars medical providers from administering gender-affirming health care to transgender people younger than 18. Though the bill was vetoed by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the state’s General Assembly overrode the veto.

In his first address to a joint session of Congress, Biden pledged to sign the Equality Act into law. He also spoke directly to transgender Americans, saying that he “has [their] back.” While many advocates praised the president for this comment, others found it too vague and urged Biden to directly address the barrage of anti-transgender bills working their way through the states. HRC President Alphonso David told The Daily Beast in May that he has been having conversations with the Biden administration about potential actions with regard to the bills. David believes many of the bills violate federal law, and he thinks the president will eventually challenge them publicly. As of yet, the White House has not commented on its plans.

The Employer Perspective

Some businesses are pushing back against proposed anti-transgender legislation. More than 55 major corporations have publicly opposed bills that would restrict the rights of transgender individuals, with business leaders reporting that they have had difficulty with recruitment, retention and tourism in states that have attempted to pass this type of legislation. 

Moreover, some prominent companies have been vocal in their support of their transgender employees. In 2019, Maeve DuVally, managing director of corporate communications for multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs, made headlines when she came out as transgender. In multiple interviews and a blog post on the bank’s website, she described how supportive her employer had been throughout the process. And in April 2021, multimedia news giant Reuters announced that Gina Chua had been appointed to the new role of executive editor. In its announcement, Reuters noted that Chua, formerly global managing editor of operations, transitioned in 2020. 

Read more