Social worker, Katherine Hyde-Hughes, is an Executive Director of a grass-roots feminist organization
that serves women who have been abused. The agency is committed to promoting empowerment at
the individual, organizational, and community levels. Primary services include provision of safe shelter, individual and group counseling and support, community education, and policy advocacy. The agency
is located in a diverse community and serves women from various identity groups, with the majority
of service users coming from the African-American and Hispanic communities. The agency employs
both professional and para-professional staff and is governed by an engaged board of directors, which
includes several former service users. The agency’s staff and board members reflect the diversity of
the communities the agency serves.

Approximately one month ago, a transgender person (M-F), Louise, came to the agency seeking help.
In the agency’s 30 plus year history, this is the first time a transgender person has turned to the
agency for assistance. The agency provided Louise with services, including the provision of emergency
shelter. Such services would be available to any woman in need.

Throughout Louise’s stay, many of the other service users complained about Louise being there.
Many did not feel comfortable with a “man” being in the shelter. Some voiced concerns about their
safety and one person threatened to leave if Louise was allowed to stay. The staff intervened and
convinced the person to remain.

Sadly, throughout her stay, Louise felt very un-welcomed in the shelter, even though the majority
of the staff and some of the other service users were quite supportive of her. She was called names
on several occasions by some service users. Commonly, when she entered a room, other service users
would leave. One staff person raised concerns about Louise being there, saying “it’s not our mission
to serve trans people; we are meant to serve real women.” Louise felt she could not stay in the agency because of its chilly environment. She talked to several of the staff about this. They tried their best to intervene, but the undercurrents of transphobia and transgenderism were quite strong. Louise left the
shelter five days after her arrival. She went to stay with a friend in another community.

The agency had provided services to lesbians in the past without any problems, but this situation
was very different. The executive director and several of the staff came together to discuss Louise’s experiences in the shelter and created a task group to look specifically at the issues of transphobia
and transgenderism in the agency and what can be done about it. The task group included board
members, the executive director, two direct-service staff, and an advisor from a local LGBT
organization. The group is not sure where to start, thus is looking to the literature to inform its
work on developing effective strategies to deal with transphobia and transgenderism.

[Source: Michael Woodford, Assistant Professor of Social Work].