The Need for Social Work Advocacy to Create Social Justice for Transgender People: A Call to Action

Authors

Justin Lerner, New York University
Gabriel Robles, New York University

Keywords

Employment discrimination, LGBT, social justice, social work advocacy, transgender

Abstract

Transgender people in the United States experience high levels of employment discrimination. The Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) is one mechanism that would provide basic workplace protections for this population. We argue, however, that passage of ENDA is only one of many preliminary steps to help transgender people experience an essential basic version of social justice. Using Bonnycastle's (2011) social justice relational illustrative model, we develop a conceptual framework that argues that social workers need to advocate for transgender people on a policy level in order to move them from their current nonexistent version of social justice to a basic version of social justice. Recommendations are provided on how social work advocacy can help create this this basic version of social justice.

Recommended Citation

Lerner, Justin and Robles, Gabriel (2016) "The Need for Social Work Advocacy to Create Social Justice for Transgender People: A Call to Action," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 43: Iss. 1, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3994
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol43/iss1/2