Newark, NY

If you look at the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, you will see just how much discrimination we in the Transgender Community face. It is completely legal to fire us when we come out to our employers. Many companies don't want to deal with any perceived hassle with having a transgender employee.

But not all companies are like this. Wegmans Food Mart is a New York-based company that values diversity and incorporates diversity in every part of the organization. I had just transitioned and started living as me – as Shauna – all the time when I applied to work there. To be honest, my appearance was rougher than what it is today. Still, with a daughter starting college, I needed the money.

Wegmans is a large supermarket chain. Fortune magazine has listed the company as one of the top 100 best places to work for over a decade. They have been in the top 10 for over a decade, including being listed as the best company to work for in the United States.

The local store had open applications one day in August. So, I filled out the forms and waited for my turn. The front end manager greeted me and we went back to chat.

As he was going through his prepared list of questions, there was only one time when he cracked a smile. I knew exactly what question was coming next, and I had to stifle a giggle.

“What are your thoughts on diversity?” The answer I gave had nothing to do with being transgendered. He listened, nodded his head and said, “Good answer!” A second interview came the next day. I was home maybe 30 seconds when the telephone rang and the personnel manager asked if I wanted the job working in Customer Service.

Everyone in the store has used proper pronouns and called me by the correct name. Basically I have been treated and accepted as one of the girls from the beginning. I could not have asked for better.

I chatted with the human resource manager about a month after I started and told her of the wonderful treatment I had received. She was greatly relieved. A city like Rochester tends to be more open and the stores there have had transgendered employees. However, the little burg where I live and work is much more conservative. I was the first transgendered employee they had at that particular store.

Since then, the number of LGBT shoppers has increased in my store. Many of them look for me. What people see, either in the classroom or at the store counter, is that we are regular people just trying to make a living.

Members of the LGBT Community tend to be very loyal consumers. Once we find a business that welcomes us and our money, we tend to become regulars in short order. It's good for business. It is good for profits.

We also feel this way about our politicians. We support and vote for those who support us.