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Record-breaking number of businesses showing real LGBTQ+ allyship, figures show
(www.thepinknews.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2023
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Big businesses are definitely worse about it because they don't have real training and nobody feels they have the authority to act on things in the moment. I work at a small location for a medium sized business. If there is an issue with how a trans person is addressed, I can swoop in and make sure it is immediately corrected and understood. I have been fast enough to stop potentially uncomfortable moments before they happened. (I like to think nobody at my dispensary would do worse than an uncomfortable misstep, but I try to prevent those too.) There is no equivalent to that in a large, faceless corporate workplace. Managers, regardless of their quality or training, aren't going to be reliably present. Employees are on their own with their existing skills, training, personalities, and biases. You can find a small business with a culture of respect you can count on. You'll always be gambling with a big business.
Right, but there's a difference between not being able to adequately respond to a unique situation and not having any training for a fairly common recurring situation. Pharmacies around here service thousands of people, and they're where any trans people on HRT are getting their hormones. People may tend to cluster toward pharmacies where they have an easier time (I certainly do at this point), but it's still going to be a fairly regular occurrence for them to be dealing with trans people.
A company the size of Walgreens, in this instance, has no excuse. If a heartless union buster like Starbucks can manage some basic training on how to not be completely flummoxed and unprepared for the existence of trans people, a critical point of contact for trans people like a pharmacy can do the same.
You're not wrong. I stopped going to CVS in part because only a portion of the pharmacy staff could be respectful. Two of the three actual pharmacists (both of the men -_-) obviously didn't care if I got my estrogen or injection supplies. They also couldn't keep my supplies in stock or get them in a timely manner, then treated me like I was seeking drug paraphernalia when I constantly needed syringes.
I guess I just don't trust that anyone has adequate training and policies for this. My experience is that, if there isn't anyone with authority making us a policy priority, we are at the mercy of the personal beliefs and opinions of whoever is working at the moment. =/