Transgender issues to be subject of training session offered by Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce

The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce brown bag lunch series has brought in speakers on myriad issues from why salespeople fail to the link between Wall Street and Main Street. The Feb. 12 brown bag lunch takes a look at gender identity, and two organizations will provide training and guidance for businesses focusing on transgender people, specifically on the challenges faced by transgender women. The idea is to do a training “so that area businesses are more inclusive, and more supportive” of transgender people,” said Genny Beemyn, director of the University of Massachusetts Stonewall Center. Beemyn along with Suzanne Seymour, executive director of the Northampton-based LGBT Coalition, will provide the training. The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts recently awarded a grant to that coalition to develop the “Diversity Heroes Project,” a series of programs and events to help local transgender women find work and to teach employers about what it's like to be a transgendered person.