Members of the
nonprofit group Make the Road New York are rallying
today in front of the preppy haven’s Fifth
Ave. location to protest what they say is
employment discrimination.

"I just feel like I had a big slap in my face,"
said Yo (Yozmit) Smith, 39, a transgender female performance artist from Brooklyn.

Smith applied for jobs at dozens of retail stores in Manhattan as an openly
transgender person. At the same time, a nontransgender person evenly matched in
age, race and experience applied for the same jobs.

Smith didn’t get a single offer, but the other person got
eight. Smith was one of two pairs of applicants who tested the hiring practices
of retailers.

J. Crew violated the city’s human rights law, said Irene
Tung of the group, which has filed a complaint with the state attorney
general’s office.

A manager at the Fifth Ave. J. Crew where Smith applied
declined to comment.

Calls to the company’s executive offices weren’t
returned.

The sign at J. Crew and other
retailers in the city might as well read "transgender people need not
apply," said an advocacy group.