A new D.C. program, sponsored through Project Empowerment, and paid for with D.C. tax dollars, aims to teach job-seeking skills to transgender people, reports the
Washington Examiner.
The decade long Project Empowerment program, which receives $11 million each year from D.C. tax dollars, received a push this year from Mayor Vincent Gray for transgender-only classes following an uptick in violence against transsexuals this summer.
Along with imparting job-seeking skills to transgender people, the program will pay for a portion of their salaries for up to six months.
The first transgender-only class enrolled in the three-week jobs skill training course in mid-September and graduated 17 people last Friday.
The class will cost Project Empowerment $147,000 which includes a $8.25 an hour salary for some graduates for up to six months while their employers are not required to pay anything.