In honor of LGBTQ+ History Month this October, we have created this blog post surrounding an important issue within the workplace for LGBTQ+ employees, especially for transgender and non-binary employees.
One issue regarding transitioning in the workplace or being gender non-conforming that’s been a constant has been the issue of dress code policies. Many employers in the past have had heavily gendered dress code policies, sometimes enforced in a way that forces transgender employees to comply with the dress code for their assigned gender at birth and prevents them from being able to present themselves in a gender-affirming way. This has also proved to be a challenge for people with an androgynous or neutral gender presentation who blend elements of masculinity and femininity into their fashion choices. The question then becomes, how do we move away from gendered dress codes, and how do we convince our employers to adopt gender-neutral dress code policies?
The first step to answering that question is to imagine what a gender-neutral dress code policy would look like. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation identified 7 potential examples of policies for employers to use:
- Employees may wear earrings no more than 2 inches in length or diameter
- Employees must wear suits to meetings with clients
- Employees with hair below the chin must wear their hair tied back while working with or on the floor with machinery
- No sweatpants or athletic apparel
- No excessively dirty or worn clothing
- No slip-on shoes or sandals
- No jewelry that can cause a safety hazard
Beyond the employer side of things, if you feel that your workplace’s dress code is discriminatory either by having very uneven standards between gendered dress codes (i.e. no dress code for men and a strict dress code for women), or if you’re trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming by forcing you to adhere to the dress code for your assigned gender at birth, then you can talk to a lawyer, since Title VII bans employment discrimination on the basis of gender.
If this is an issue that concerns you, you can make a career coaching appointment with the Center for Career Development to discuss your concerns and get guidance on how to find employers that don’t have restrictive gendered dress codes.
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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
