San Francisco became the first U.S. city to offer city employees comprehensive coverage for gender transitions in 2001. Since then some major companies have taken notice and have changed their employee benefits packages to follow suit.

    General Motors, IBM, Eastman Kodak and Hallmark Cards, as well as the universities of Michigan and California, now include transition-related coverage in their standard employee benefits.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Human Rights Campaign “found in a survey released last year that 67 major companies now cover surgeries, hormone therapy, short-term leave, medical visits and mental health services for transsexual employees.” The HRC also reported, in its 2006 Workplace Gender Transition Guidelines, that “eighty-two companies in the Fortune 500 included “gender identity” or “gender identity and expression” in their written non-discrimination policies to address discrimination against transgender workers as of May 2006.”