National
Despite some progress, trans workers still struggle to find acceptance
McKinsey study finds more than half of trans employees not able to be out
At one of her first jobs after coming out as transgender, Beatrice Shumway remembers one thing: Her bosses rarely looked her in the eyes.
In her job interview, she’d disclosed that she identifies as trans and uses she/they pronouns. However, being up front about her identity didn’t dissuade her bosses from dismissing the conversation whenever she brought it up. Shumway was dead named and misgendered throughout her time at that job. And although she had her pronouns emblazoned on pins and her hat, this stressful experience persisted.
“I was told not to make a big deal out of it,” said Shumway, 27. “I was told that it was weirding customers out.”
A 2021 McKinsey study found that more than half of transgender employees are not comfortable being out at work.
“People who identify as transgender feel far less supported in the workplace than their cisgender colleagues do,” said the study. “They report that it’s more difficult to understand workplace culture and benefits, and harder to get promoted. They also feel less supported by their managers.”
This lack of support resulted in Shumway “always” being on the job hunt. She’d rank job opportunities based on their online presence and whether they had positive messaging during Pride month. Because of financial constraints, however, she’d often find herself working for companies with bigoted bosses.
It wasn’t until she scored a job at a Lens Crafters that she found respect and her rights protected. There, whenever customers were nasty to her, her boss protected her.
“When [things] would happen, my boss would say, ‘Go into the back right now, I’m not having you deal with this guy,’” she recalled.
Andrew McCaskill, a career expert at LinkedIn, describes the jobs that trans workers take until they find a more inclusive place as “vehicles not destinations.”
“Everyone doesn’t have the luxury of passing up a job opportunity because of an unsafe environment,” he said.
However, job seekers can find better options when using LinkedIn’s “values matching tool” that shows information about a company’s family formation benefits, queer-inclusive parental leave, gender transition guidelines, queer resource groups and where company executives have taken stances on certain topics.
On the part of employers, McCaskill recommended that they provide empathy-based training sessions that make inclusion a personal incentive for both workers and employers. He added that sessions should also focus on the impact and consequences of bigotry in the workplace.
“It’s not about recruiting diverse talent,” he said. “It’s about exiting bad actors.”
What about legislation?
Despite the Supreme Court of the United States in 2020 affirming that the Civil Rights Act protects the LGBTQ community, and President Biden signing an executive order on his first day in office that protects LGBTQ federal workers from discrimination, efforts still persist to curtail LGBTQ workers’ rights.
In June, the Washington Blade reported that a federal judge had struck down a law signed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that would have banned transgender residents from using Medicaid for gender affirming care.
“It’s very hard to legislate acceptance,” said McCaskill.
For many, taking legal action in the face of discrimination isn’t an option either. Shumway said that she was discouraged by her negative interactions with human resource departments.
“I just don’t see a chance of winning,” she said.
However, she has a message for all employers.
“The trans agenda is not real. We don’t want any special treatment,” she said. “I’m not a trans woman. I’m a fucking human.”
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams
In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition
On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform
Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
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