When the Supreme Court ruled last June that anti-LGBTQ discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, they affirmed that LGBTQ workers are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Their majority vote determined that any employer who fires a worker for their sexual orientation or gender identity does so in violation of federal law.
Advocates declared the ruling as a clear victory for workplace equality, the effects of which are still being felt. President Joe Biden affirmed the decision via executive order on his first day in office Jan. 20, something his predecessor declined to do, directing federal agencies across the nation to implement it.
“It is the policy of my administration to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation,” Biden’s order reads, “and to fully enforce Title VII and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. It is also the policy of my administration to address overlapping forms of discrimination.”
The order quickly impacted Florida. In response, the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) –which has enforced the Florida Civil Rights Act since 1969 – announced this month that it would now protect LGBTQ Floridians from discrimination.
For the first time, it gave more than 800,000 LGBTQ Floridians an official state channel to file a claim to protect their civil rights in the workplace and beyond. The state’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization called the decision a historic cause for celebration statewide.
“Any LGBTQ person anywhere in Florida who experiences discrimination now has a path to pursue justice,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith shared Feb. 3. “The U.S. Supreme Court declared that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal and the agency that enforces civil rights protections for all Floridians has made it clear they will follow the law of the land.”
Equality Florida and other LGBTQ-focused organizations still assert there is more work to do, particularly for the transgender community. The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), the nation’s leading transgender-focused advocacy group, says that one in four transgender workers have lost their jobs due to bias, with more than three-fourths experiencing workplace discrimination.
The NCTE thoroughly examined these statistics in its latest U.S. Transgender Survey, the largest study ever devoted to the experiences of transgender Americans. Its 2016 effort drew nearly 28,000 respondents nationwide, tackling workplace equality and other significant concerns.
It found that the unemployment rate for transgender respondents was three times higher than that of the U.S. population at the time. The NCTE and Equality Florida also partnered to release state-specific data, which found that nearly a quarter of transgender Floridian respondents were unemployed.
Over the course of their lifetimes, 14% noted that they had lost a job due to their gender identity or expression. More than doubling that, 30% had been fired, denied a promotion or initially hired at all for the same reason within the previous year.
“It remains painfully clear that transgender Floridians continue to experience overt discrimination in all aspects of their lives for simply living their true gender identity,” Equality Florida Director of Transgender Equality Gina Duncan said at the time. “While slight progress has been made in some areas of society, transgender Floridians remain a marginalized and stigmatized community.”
Watermark spoke with four business and nonprofit leaders in Central Florida and Tampa Bay looking to change that. These transgender women of color, a demographic facing even greater disparities in life, are working to empower themselves and others.
JIYAH BOLDEN
AGE 28, LAKELAND
Jiyah Bolden was ready for a change after graduating from the Artistic Nails & Beauty Academy in 2014. She ventured out of cosmetology and into healthcare recruitment, a decision she ultimately regretted.
“Being a trans woman, when you’re comfortable in a position it’s very difficult to transition into something different, not knowing how people will respect you,” she says. “I should have stayed in recruiting; the respect factor wasn’t present.”
Bolden faced multiple forms of harassment, discrimination a background in Human Relations gave her the confidence to address. “I dealt with several embarrassing moments,” she recalls, which forced her “to quit my job with no money, no back-up plan and no idea what was to come.”
She decided to draw upon her cosmetology experience, offering full-time salon services from home. The stylist leaned heavily on social media to garner support, forming the Hearts Hair Company to sell extensions, wigs and more in what she now calls “the best decision of my life.”
Her first brick and mortar followed, a medically themed storefront in which she serves as a self-described hair doctor. She opened The Hair Clinic in Dec. 2020, becoming the first openly transgender person in Lakeland to open a salon.
“It was very hard,” she says. “I did hair out of my home for two years and I can’t lie, one of the biggest reasons why I was so scared to jump into this is because I am a trans woman.”
Her concerns stem from her view of transgender acceptance at large. She believes the level of discrimination transgender individuals face in the workplace is often influenced by how traditionally feminine or masculine they may look.
“I have a cisgender appearance,” she explains, “and there have been instances where people have found out that I was trans and stopped coming to me to get their hair done. Just because they didn’t know in the beginning. They thought I wasn’t being my true self with them.
“A lot of people don’t know I’m trans, but some people do,” Bolden continues. “I didn’t want people to come and destroy my salon – transgender people get killed for no reason and I wasn’t sure I wanted that attention. It can be scary.”
Bolden’s love for her craft and community led her to move forward. She plans to hold an official grand opening this month, welcoming one and all.
“I want everyone to feel included,” she says. “I want everyone to feel special.”
That mentality led Bolden to create the Hearts Foundation, a nonprofit she’s developing for LGBTQ youth. “My salon is pretty big,” she explains, “so in another room I’m making a resource center.
We were just awarded a grant and we’re working on getting a room built out for it.”
She hopes that it will grow into transitional housing and more. “I want to help people get the proper resources they need,” Bolden says. “I want to help people get jobs; I want to help them build resumes. If people want to start a business, I want to help them do that.”
It marks Bolden’s second venture into nonprofit work. After cosmetology school, she created Hair4TheCure, in which she provided realistic wigs for women dealing with hair loss. She hopes to
reestablish it once she’s financially able to do so, offering the philanthropic service through Hearts Hair Company.
“It all goes back to love for me,” she says. “That’s why I chose ‘Heart.’ Everyone loves the feeling of being loved and I want to give back to my community. I want to advocate for them.”
The Hair Clinic is located at 6700 S. Florida Ave., Ste. 14 in Lakeland. To book an appointment and learn more, visit Instagram.com/TheHairClinic_Lakeland.
SHEA CUTLIFF
AGE 36, ORLANDO
Shea Cutliff started her first business at eight years old, selling what she describes as frivolities from door to door. “I didn’t make a lot,” she says, “but $20-$100 a month was a lot of profit for a kid.”
It was still rewarding, and as an adult she’s helping others find that same fulfillment. Cutliff now serves on the governance and admission committees as a board member of the One Orlando Alliance, the Central Florida support network for LGBTQ organizations of which Watermark is a part.
The nonprofit’s collective voice works to create a safe, welcoming and inclusive community for all. It does so in a number of ways, including by serving as the fiscal sponsor for The R.I.S.E. Initiative. Cutliff co-founded it after the inaugural National Trans Visibility March in 2019, the landmark rally for transgender rights held in D.C.
Her co-founder attended the march in person, Cutliff vicariously in tow, and the two saw a need for economic rescue for transgender and gendernonconforming locals. R.I.S.E. was formed to seek employment and sustainable income for transgender and gender nonconforming Central Floridians.
“Many women came back and felt called to action to better our lives and the lives of our communities,” Cutliff explains. “I learned people were hurting and that beyond statistics, there are some of us who beat those numbers.
“There is a segment of our community who is in need of stewardship and allyship,” she continues. “Why do we feel as though sex work is one of the first options we have? Why can’t we be like everyone else in the world and feel as though we can go forward with our minds to contribute to society? We want to change how people think about the employment they’re seeking.”
R.I.S.E. does so by stressing the accessibility and importance of entry level work as well as living within one’s means. They help workers create and update their resumes while encouraging beneficiaries of the program to know their worth.
Cutliff draws upon her own experiences to help others do that, from her various stages of homelessness to dabbling in sex work and serving time in prison. “I was a three-time loser,” she says.
“I was in the Department of Corrections. I am Black. I should have been discounted from doing a lot of the work that I’ve been able to do,” she explains. “I let women know not to discount themselves and to always see their potential.”
“You can always move up that ladder and get to the sustainable place you want to be in your life,” she continues. “You just have to know that you’re worth it. You have to know that.”
Cutliff says that too often, transgender women of color are stigmatized, sexualized or glamorized. It can lead members of the community to dehumanize themselves and neglect their safety.
“When it comes to our cisgender counterparts, they are very much empowered to defend themselves,” she says. “I think a lot of times when it comes to transgender women, the default is that we can defend ourselves and that’s not always the case. Sometimes we need others to defend us, or to be given the skills to defend ourselves.”
Cutliff says that one goal of R.I.S.E. is to become its own nonprofit, something its leadership is actively working toward. In the interim, the organization will continue helping everyone they can.
”We’re a fledgling initiative,” she says. “We want to see where this is going to naturally grow.”
To learn more about the One Orlando Alliance and The R.I.S.E. Initiative, visit OneOrlandoAlliance.org.
NAOMI WRIGHT
AGE 33, TAMPA
Naomi Wright grew up with a fascination of the entertainment industry. From an early age, she was drawn to film, theater and the costumes, fashion and makeup found in each.
It led her to idolize Walt Disney. “I always wanted to be like him,” Wright says. “To have a business inhabiting my multitude of interests. I knew as I grew older that I wanted to do something to make my stamp on the world.”
That led her to Orlando, where she auditioned to become an entertainer at her idol’s namesake, Walt Disney World. She also toured in a number of stage productions, where she discovered her love for drag as the entertainer Viktoria Sommers.
Through any obstacles she faced in the workforce, Wright never lost sight of her dream. “I wanted to become a mogul,” she explains. “To be the face of my own company.”
That hasn’t been an easy goal as a transgender woman in Florida, she says, particularly as someone of color. “In the last couple of years, we’re being murdered at a rapid rate,” she says. “With no justice.
“There’s been a narrative that it’s happening because trans women aren’t being truthful about who we are, but we’re being murdered because of being truthful,” she stresses. “It’s been an issue for years that’s been ignored, but finally we’re getting more representation.”
Wright says that representation for the transgender community matters in every facet of life, including the workforce. As she continued to work toward owning her own business, she became a fan favorite entertainer throughout Tampa Bay and Central Florida, teaching herself to sew in the process.
“I was trying to better my drag and that turned into honing my abilities,” she explains. “It was a long road because I taught myself basically everything. There was a lot of trial and error.”
Wright knew her efforts were worth it once other entertainers began commissioning her work. The interest led her to create Haute Coudoor LLC in 2018, where she makes “quality costumes and clothing that can be sent to your door.”
Her venture has been a success, producing work for male, female and nonbinary entertainers, students attending formal proms and others. “My business expanded by offering services and promoting it online,” she says. “I’ve mailed to Canada and I have clients all over the U.S.”
Next month, Wright will expand her offerings to include a makeup line. Haute Coudoor Cosmetics will release with “a 25-set eyeshadow palette, large blending sponges and gorgeous lashes,” she says. “All with the grand flare and luxury quality the company strives for.”
“I want to become a global brand,” Wright says, one step closer to her empire. “I want representation in my line for everyone, whether they’re transgender, cisgender or nonbinary.”
At its core, that’s what Wright’s business is all about: energizing others. “I want to empower others as much as it empowers me,” she says. “I want to help create that positive feeling, because when we look nicer, when we look sharper, we know how it makes us feel inside. We all deserve to feel that.”
Wright also wants other members of the transgender community to know they can chase their own dreams.
“If there’s something that you truly love and feel like you can do, don’t ever let someone tell you that you can’t,” she stresses. “If it’s something that you truly want in your heart, you can go for it. That’s exactly what I did.
“Life is too short, especially for a trans person,” she adds. “You’ve come so far to live your truth of who you are – don’t stop just because the world puts limitations on where you can go.”
For more information about Haute Coudoor and Haute Coudoor Cosmetics, visit Instagram.com/Haute.Coudoor.
MULAN WILLIAMS
AGE 41, ORLANDO
Divas in Dialogue is a nonprofit that works to empower transgender women of color, but Mulan Williams notes it’s also “my baby.” She founded it to create a sisterhood that ensures people like her have a seat at every table.
The organization is fiscally sponsored by Miracle of Love, the oldest community-based, minority HIV/AIDS organization in Central Florida. Williams serves as its outreach coordinator, working to provide inclusive services while cultivating a safe space at the Stafford House, its drop-in center.
The first Divas in Dialogue meeting was hosted there in 2019 after the National Trans Visibility March. “There was nothing here for us, especially for the Black transgender women,” she explains. “I started it as a simple support group.”
Participants initially discussed current events and met monthly. The organization evolved after Williams was given the opportunity to attend a class on leadership and received a sizable grant, allowing her to create a Divas in Dialogue learning cohort.
“We gave courses on life skills,” Williams explains. “Classes on resume building, body positivity, on just learning how to love yourself – accepting yourself for who you are, no matter what society says. It was a safe space to be yourself and we had a graduation; it was so amazing.”
She’s also been able to partner with the Gender Advancement Project, of which she also serves as a board member. The trans-led, grassroots movement is dedicated to the progression and inclusion of gender nonbinary individuals in all facets of life.
The partnership allows them to assist individuals with name changes and more, and beneficiaries have personally reached out to Divas in Dialogue to share their success stories. “Things like that let us know that it’s working,” she explains. “It also lets us know that it didn’t work for everyone, so we know we still have more work to do.”
That mirrors her views on transgender equality statewide. “We’re getting better than we were in the past,” Williams explains. “We’re not quite there yet but we’re getting better. We’re on the right path.
“We need more trans leadership,” she stresses. “We need more trans women to step up and take on roles to help guide things because no one knows what we need more than we do.”
That’s something she understands well. Williams draws on her personal experiences to help guide anyone seeking empowerment from Divas in Dialogue.
“I was in sex work for over 20 years,” she explains. “I started there because society had brainwashed me to feel that’s all I was worth doing and that’s all I could do,” a direct result of social stigma and workplace discrimination.
Her role at Miracle of Love changed that. Years ago, the nonprofit’s executive director personally offered her a role with the organization. “I couldn’t believe it because I really was brainwashed,” she explains. “My dream of having a regular job was long gone.”
Through Divas in Dialogue, she’s able to offer that feeling to others. “Our mission is to uplift and bring women to the table and that’s what we’re doing,” Williams says. “We received a grant from the health department and I was just able to hire my first trans employee.
“I cried,” she explains. “Being able to do that was an amazing feeling for me because we’re always at the bottom of the totem pole.”
Williams says she’ll be able to hire three more transgender workers soon. “Being trans, I know how hard it is to find a job, even with the world accepting us more,” she says. “Hopefully that puts a spark into them to let them know that the world is changing.”
Above all, Williams stresses one thing to every member of the transgender community: “Never let your past dictate your future.”
To learn more about Divas in Dialogue and Miracle of Love, visit Facebook.com/DivasInDialogue and MiracleOfLoveInc.org.
