TRANSGENDER council workers are to get more support at work in Cumnock and Doon Valley.

A new policy is being introduced to East Ayrshire which will outline all aspects of how the council supports Trans people.

It comes as the local authority mark his year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance with the new project Supporting Trans Employees in the Workplace” to enable them to perform comfortably free from constraints or discrimination.

The policy, written in accordance with legislation from the Equality Act 2010 and the Gender Recognition Act 2004, is written in an easy to follow style and includes checklists for bothTrans employees and their managers to make sure everyone understands what is expected and what it is possible to achieve in the workplace.

The new policy is the next step in a rolling programme of seminars and awareness raising initiatives. It seeks to ensure no Transgender person, whether working for the council or coming into contact with council employees, suffers the kind of discrimination and harm which led to the establishment of Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The remembrance day was set up following the 1998 murder of Rita Hester, a highly visible member of the Transgender community in Boston, USA who worked to educate the public about transgender issues.

The day was set up in 1999 by advocate and writer Gwendolyn Ann Smith, who held a vigil in Rita’s honour.

It commemorated her and many others whose lives have been lost due to anti-transgender violence. It is now celebrated worldwide on 20 November.

In East Ayrshire, the new policy recognises and values the diverse talents, skills, experience and perspectives that exist within society and believes that those qualities should be reflected within the composition of its workforce, employment practices and in the planning and delivery of its services.