The Issues:
Transgender Issues
Personal Stories: Celeste Hall
This testimony was delivered at the 8th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20, 2006.
Good evening, I am Celeste Hall, and I am a transgender person. Specifically I am a male to female transsexual, and I am here to ask for your support in adding gender identify and gender expression to the state's anti-discrination code. I came out at work this fall and lost my job. To compound that I found that no one wanted to risk hiring a transsexual employee even when he admitted I was very qualified for the position. I was told by one hiring manager that he wanted to hire me but he was worried about how the other employees would feel about me. I endured a host of inappropriate questions. I was out of work for 2 months; in the previous 25 years I have not been out of work for more then two days against my will. The difference is I have chosen to live my life in a way that friends tell me makes me a nicer more joyful person. Anti-discrmination statutes keeps people like me employed, supporting ourselves and contributing to the state. Please support expanding our state's anti-discrimination laws to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression.
Click here to return to the Transgender Issues main page.