美国国家公共电台 NPR California Restaurants Launch Nation's First Transgender Jobs Program

California Restaurants Launch Nation's First Transgender Jobs Program

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We have a story about someone who saw a problem in her own community and set out to fix it. The problem was the high unemployment rate for transgender people. A trans woman in California took a success story from her own businesses and tried to supersize it. From member station KPCC in Los Angeles, Leo Duran reports.

LEO DURAN, BYLINE²: The lunch rush was supposed to end hours ago, but in the heart of L.A., this fast food restaurant, El Pollo Loco, is still buzzing.

KRISTY RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).

Some people hungry (laughter).

DURAN: General Manager Kristy Ramirez glides³ between the registers and the massive grill⁴, serving hundreds of pieces of chicken.

RAMIREZ: We take the temperature to the chicken. We're taking the legs. We're taking the breast and all things.

DURAN: Ramirez has worked for El Pollo Loco for four years now, and she's loyal to the company because it gave her a chance that no one else would consider since she's transgender. Ramirez has the owner to thank for that, Michaela Mehndelson.

MICHAELA MEHNDELSON: The word's just gotten out that I'm a trans owner supporting trans people.

DURAN: In 1988, before she transitioned, Mehndelson bought her first El Pollo Loco franchise⁵. She just happened to like their menu.

MEHNDELSON: I didn't go to college to figure out which restaurant (laughter).

DURAN: She acquired several more stores by the time she transitioned in 2004. But it wasn't until 2012 that she hired her first trans employee. That person told her how hard it was to get a job. Workplace discrimination and stigma⁶ are some of the reasons that trans people have an unemployment rate that's double the general population's. And Mehndelson was moved, and she started to reach out to other trans people looking for work.

MEHNDELSON: Currently, we have 8 to 10 percent of our total workforce⁷ is transgender, out of about 150 employees.

DURAN: Then she had a thought - is there a way to get other restaurants to follow her lead? So earlier this year at a conference of the California Restaurant Association, she was chatting with other members at a hotel bar, including her longtime friend and the group's head, Jot⁸ Condie.

JOT CONDIE: So I've known Michaela for - I don't know - 10, 12 years.

MEHNDELSON: Twelve.

CONDIE: A long time.

DURAN: And Condi heard about the workplace discrimination that trans people deal with.

CONDIE: I consider myself, as a person, somebody who had my head in the sand when it comes to what they're really going through. This is a civil rights issue.

DURAN: Condie says he was convinced to have the Restaurant Association back Mehndelson's big idea.

CONDIE: To me, it wasn't like, whoa, are you serious? To me, it made sense.

DURAN: The idea was this - Mehndelson would start a program connecting trans people looking for jobs with restaurants looking for workers. The association has 22,000 members, so that means the program would be so large scale that it could make a real difference. And the first big step happened recently.

I'm on the convention floor of the Western Foodservice And Hospitality Expo that's happening in downtown LA.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Do you want to try a meatball?

DURAN: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: We can just cut it in half.

DURAN: The California Restaurant Association sponsors this event every year. Vendors⁹ from around the country are trying to entice¹⁰ the 10,000 attendees to try something new.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Try a little sample?

DURAN: Sure, what am I sampling here?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Sticky buns, pot stickers, spring rolls.

DURAN: And one floor just above the expo, the association hosts a seminar where Mehndelson gives restaurateurs their first taste of her new program.

MEHNDELSON: Take a seat. We are here today with what we call the new normal.

DURAN: She gives them an intro course on the basics of trans people. You can call that trans 101. She explains how to apply and be certified¹¹ as trans-friendly. And Mehndelson also tells people that a state grant will pay for the first 60 hours of a new hire's wages as an incentive¹². Back on the Expo floor, though, there's some skepticism. Some attendees say this program for trans people sounds like a good thing.

GRANT THEIM: I don't see why they can't work the way everybody else is entitled to work in this country.

DURAN: That's Grant Theim. But then he hesitates.

THEIM: You know, I still think there's a majority of people out there that may have a problem being served by somebody that's transgender.

DURAN: That concern worried Mendelson, too, but she was surprised. In the years she's had restaurants staffed with trans people, customers have been overwhelmingly supportive. And when they aren't, she says bosses should be prepared to stand up for their employees.

MEHNDELSON: You know, you hear the thing - the customer's always right. In my restaurants, the customer is always right unless they attack you personally.

DURAN: And with more trans people visible in the workplace, it could change the way all Americans view them, one order at a time. For NPR News, I'm Leo Duran in Los Angeles.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 glides   

n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The new dance consists of a series of glides. 这种新舞蹈中有一连串的滑步。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stately swan glides gracefully on the pond. 天鹅在池面上优美地游动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

5 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

8 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

9 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

11 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

12 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。