Transgender Day of Remembrance (Friday, November 20, 2020) is the culmination of Transgender Awareness Week — a week when transgender people and their allies bring attention to the community by educating the public about who transgender people are—sharing stories and experiences, listening and helping to advancing advocacy around the issues most pertinent the transgender community.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is often recognized by attending or organizing a vigil to honor transgender people whose lives were lost to anti-transgender violence that year, and/or learning about violence affecting the transgender community.
Celebrating diversity with action
At RingCentral, allyship with our transgender employees goes beyond a single day, or week.
“Everyone Together,” a recent Employee Stories video produced by our Manila team, features Chrissy Mercado, a transgender employee – not to focus on gender identity, simply to feature another member of our family.
Benefits that go beyond the everyday
RingCentral works tirelessly to ensure our workplace is among the industry’s most welcoming and inclusive— an atmosphere where everyone can feel comfortable being their true selves at work. One way we do that? Transgender-specific benefits are built in to our employees’ benefits package. Transgender employees in all RingCentral regions have access to mental health therapy, hormone replacement therapy, mastectomy with chest reconstruction, and gender-affirming lower-body surgeries as part of their base benefits.
We recognize that these services can play a vital role in people’s emotional well-being — which is why we make sure they are a part of our on-going benefits package.
Building a culture as diverse as the world we serve
RingCentral is also proud to support the “Rainbow Room,” our LGBTQ* Employee Resource Group, with event sponsorships and donations year-round. Rainbow Room serves as a vital source of connection for queer employees, and a crucial element of the open, eclectic environment we cherish. RingCentral is a global company, dedicated to helping the world connect. We know—that mission starts with our employees. While our work is never done, we are proud to have been named among Comparably’s Best Places to work for LGBTQ Equality in 2020, and to have held a 100% rating for LGBTQ Workplace Equality with the Human Rights Campaign since 2019.
Amplifying trans voices
This year for Transgender Awareness Week, we’re following GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) in encouraging everyone to watch the documentary Disclosure on Netflix. The documentary explores the history of trans representation in TV and film, revealing how Hollywood simultaneously manufactures and exacerbates people’s deepest anxieties about gender. It’s a small-but-effective way to widen your perspective, help us honor those we’ve lost, and bring justice and equality to transgender people here at RingCentral and in the world at large.
Want to learn more about how to be an ally? One of RingCentral’s partners, PFLAG (formerly “Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays”) provides some great resources.
Originally published Nov 23, 2020, updated Dec 30, 2022
