"I Lost All My Customers"

Years ago, Paul Wolscht was my car mechanic.  He was an
excellent mechanic, and he charged reasonable prices.  I got to know him over the years.  I thought he was an honest businessman and a friendly guy who always had a joke. 

I still chuckle about one repair job he did for me.  We had a terrific Jetta that kept on

running, but it was developing some rust.  One day the clutch rusted off of the housing and literally dangled in the air.  Paul welded it all together, and we drove the car for several more years.

I recently heard that Paul became Stefonknee Wolscht.  I learned more on the internet, and I was shocked to hear her say, "I lost all my customers."  I wondered how could that be.  I connected with Stefonknee, and here is what she told me. 

Word spread in the small community where Paul had his car-repair business that he was trans.  As well, unfounded rumours were flying.  In either case, customers told him not to call  them, and customers cancelled appointments.  Some didn't even pay their bills.

Stefonknee lost her family

and moved to Toronto.  For the first time in her life, she needed a resume to apply for positions as a mechanic.  She identified herself as trans in her resume, figuring that if she was going to be rejected at the interview stage because of how she looked, it might as well just happen when a prospective employer read her resume.  After many applications, she received no calls.

As an employee in Canada, you may have human rights legislation or a union to protect you from the consequences of your choices, such as tattoos.  In Paul's case, though, he in effect got fired from his own business.

The Trans PULSE Project has a range of research on trans people.  It concludes that trans individuals are discriminated against when it comes to employment.  Here are some findings.

• 71% of trans people have at least some college or university education, but about half earn $15,000 or less per year.
  

• 25% of trans people knew or thought they were fired because they were trans
• For trans individuals transitioning in the workplace, about 40% felt that coworkers were accepting no more than half of the time.

Stefonknee says that there will be legal challenges coming soon related to trans people.   

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Photos used with permission of Stefonknee Wolscht