Why Gavin Newsom Shouldn't Kill the Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative

There's a unique program in San Francisco called the Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative (TEEI). And while the program might not be well known outside of the City By the Bay, it certainly could be a model program for cities looking to promote safe and welcoming work places for transgender individuals.

The overall thrust of the program is to help transgender individuals find stable jobs that provide a living wage, benefits, and opportunities for advancement. Hard to disagree with a mission statement like that. But the TEEI does a whole lot more. In collaboration with several other organizations, the TEEI works with employers to create safe work zones, as well as work within the broader community to advance transgender rights. They hold job fairs, run classes for transgender individuals looking to improve certain skills (like resume writing, for example), and help make sure that transgender employees know their rights. And that's covering something particularly important, given that transgender employees are much more likely to face discrimination on the job.

But sadly, despite the great work that TEEI does, it faces a huge slash in its funding by the city of San Francisco. Though it survived what many consider a first round of budget cuts, Mayor Gavin Newsom has up until June 1 to decide whether or not to keep city funding for the TEEI. If TEEI loses its funding from San Francisco, it will lose upwards of 50 percent of its annual budget. That would cripple almost any organization, and TEEI is no different.

That's why it's time to put pressure on Mayor Newsom to keep the TEEI afloat, and to make sure that it can continue the great work it's doing in the city. San Francisco needs it. And so do the rest of us, who can look at the TEEI as a national model for advancing transgender rights and ending workplace discrimination.

Support for the TEEI runs high. Already a San Francisco Supervisor and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission have expressed support for keeping the TEEI fully funded. And a number of community activists have as well.

Among them is Ramsey Campbell, who according to the Los Angeles Times, told a hearing on the TEEI's funding that the Initiative made all the difference in his ability to find employment.

"I've been fired for being trans, not hired for being trans, harassed on the job for being trans," said Campbell.

Those issues are exactly why the TEEI was created in the first place back in 2006. Research showed that a large number of San Francisco's trans population faced employment difficulties, and a number were living in poverty. Hence the creation of the TEEI, and a concerted effort to fight trans poverty and trans discrimination in the work place. (Isn't it awesome to see two evils, poverty and discrimination, fought with the same sword, so to speak?)

San Francisco is like many other cities when it comes to budget problems. Times are tough. But robbing Peter to pay Paul, or in this case, axing a resource for people to find jobs in order to save money, is only going to exacerbate costs elsewhere. This is an important initiative, and one that other cities around the country can and should learn from.

But cutting its funding won't allow that to happen. That's why it's time to send Mayor Newsom a message that the TEEI deserves support. One click, one email, one chance to save a really cool program, before Mayor Newsom decides on final budget cuts for the next fiscal year.

Photo credit: mcbarnicle