The İstanbul Trans Pride Committee has announced that a transgender man was fired from a McDonalds restaurant in İstanbul’s İstiklal Avenue without proper explanation. The employee was told that “you are not suitable.”
The worker had been employed without insurance for two weeks before being terminated before being terminated on Sep 5, said the committee.
The Committee criticized McDonald’s, saying, “How can a company that makes millions justify unfairly firing a trans employee? Genocide supporter McDonald’s must answer for its transphobia. We stand with our friend.”
The dismissed worker, Baran, explained that he had been seeking employment for some time and during his two weeks at McDonald’s, worked in various roles despite being uninsured. He described his experience leading up to his dismissal: “I was assigned by a company to work at McDonald's. I was employed for two weeks without insurance. During this time, I performed various tasks and tried to fulfill the requirements of the job. However, at the end of the process, the official at the intermediary company told me that I could no longer work there. When I demanded to know why, they told me that my profile was not suitable and that was why our business relationship had ended.
“When I asked how the profile was determined, they did not answer. I asked for more information to clarify the situation, but unfortunately I didn't get an answer there either. The transphobia I experienced during this process and the situation of working without insurance created a great victimization for me.”
‘Are you a girl or a boy?’
Baran also spoke out about the discrimination faced by trans people in the workplace: “We already struggle looking for a job; most workplaces and bosses close the doors in our faces because our assigned identity is not the same as our open identity, they should look at the work we will do instead of putting our identities in their mouths. Unfortunately, homophobic and transphobic people don't allow this.''
“You may think that they know and understand you at workplaces, but they address you by the name on your identity card and use addresses such as mister and mistress. There are transphobic conversations such as 'Are you a girl or a boy?,’ hate speech that they defend as a joke and marginalizing looks. However, we are also working and trying to hold on to life. No one has to love anyone, but they have to respect them.”
McDonald’s has not responded to bianet’s questions regarding the matter.
‘Trans people can only work in specific sectors’
The İstanbul Trans Pride Committee highlighted the discrimination trans workers face in finding jobs, explaining that many are limited to specific sectors.
The committee emphasized that despite awareness of LGBTI+ issues, transphobic practices persist: “Instead of talking about the problems we face directly, we need to talk about the fact that no one speaks out about this issue despite the fact that all LGBTI+phobic processes are known.
“Especially when it comes to LGBTI+ and transgender workers, these problems will continue as long as mobbing, exploitation and difficulties encountered in the work environment due to sexual orientation/gender identity remain only on the agenda of LGBTI+ people.”
‘Every time we hear the same thing’
“We try to prefer safe locations when looking for a job. However, sometimes we get stuck in cities, thinking about how the neighborhood of the workplaces we work in will react if they find out that trans people work there. In the places where we find jobs or have interviews, they say that we are not hired because of our appearance and that we look marginalized.
“Then there is what happens after the hiring. Transphobia at McDonald's is an example of this. In short, we are forced to sacrifice our identities to make a living, and no trans person deserves that. Bosses and coworkers can easily link a job we cannot do to our existence. While being trans or LGBTI+ has nothing to do with getting the job done, they use this as an excuse to prepare the ground for LGBTI+ phobia. And every time we hear the same thing: 'Your profile is not suitable.' However, of course we are.” (AEB/TY/VK)