Statement of Support for Indiana Equality Initiative

Released: June 9, 2003

My name is Bryan Sirtosky, and because of the way the Indiana Civil Right Law reads today, I could be fired for what I am about to say.

And it doesn’t matter that I was valedictorian of my high school class, or that I graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Distinction with a double major from IU Bloomington, or that I graduated from the IU Bloomington School of Law and became a member of the Indiana Bar.

I am not “out” to my employer. When we talk about “brain drain” from the state of Indiana, believe me, I understand the motivation. I have thought many times “Is it worth it to stay here? Shouldn’t I just move somewhere where people are more enlightened, more tolerant?” But you know what? I don’t want to move. I was born and raised in Indiana, and I shouldn’t have to move in order to keep my job. Indiana should be a place where people can be who they are without having to fear losing their jobs.

However, here is the interesting part: I am not gay. I am a post-operative transsexual. I was assigned female at birth by the doctor who looked at my body, but unfortunately, that doctor was not in a position to evaluate my brain. If he could have, he would have seen that I was born with a brain that tells me I am male, meaning that I was born with a male gender identity.

I am president of the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance. In the state of Indiana, unlike the states of Minnesota, Rhode Island, and New Mexico and many other cities around the country, I can be fired simply for having a gender identity that my employer does not think is appropriate for me. In case you think this is all just speculation on my part, allow me to briefly relate a story of a close friend of mine. I’ll call her Terry.

Terry was assigned male at birth. After retiring from the military with 20 years of service, Terry started working as a machine operator in the copy center of a large law firm in Indiana. She was still living outwardly as male at the time.

Terry worked in this position for about two and a half years, receiving positive reviews and periodic raises. In December 1999, Terry told her supervisor that she had started seeing a doctor about gender related issues. This is when the terms and conditions of her employment started to change. From that point on, Terry was forbidden by her supervisor from possessing or reading certain magazines in the workplace, including NUVO magazine, MaryKay and Avon cosmetic magazines. Terry was also forbidden from possessing anything her employer deemed inappropriate for her, like clothing or other items she might buy on her lunch hour.

Two months later, one of Terry’s coworkers sent a picture of Terry dressed as a woman to the head of human resources. The next day, Terry was informed, in no uncertain terms, that if she spoke about her gender identity issues with any employees of the law firm, on the job or away from the job, she would be summarily fired.

Two to three weeks later, Terry was accused of discussing gender identity issues with other employees and was terminated, effective immediately. Shortly thereafter, Terry received an anonymous email message stating, in its entirety, “ha ha we got you faggot.”

When Terry discussed her situation with attorneys, she was told that she had no rights as a matter of law.

Indiana Equality would like to change that.

Indiana Equality believes that gender identity and the expression of that identity are so fundamental to who we are as human beings as to fall into the realm of basic human rights. We believe that it is against public policy and a violation of human rights to allow employers to discriminate in employment based on gender identity or expression.

Now is the time for Indiana to step forward and demand that ALL basic rights are protected for all Hoosiers.

Thank you.