Then, by the way he explained it, it wouldn't be descrimination. He would be declining to hire that person because he thinks it might hurt his business, not because of that persons gender, group, class or "category". He might be wrong in his assumption that it would hurt business, but it wouldn't be discrimination, by the very definition you provided.

As for me, I'd hire her/him, but I would keep a close track of business, and if I saw signs of the business doing worse after she/he started, I do my best to move her/him to a less visible position, because after all, I'd want my business to thrive.

If you're going to say that you would hire this person based solely on their qualifications for a job then in some cases you would simply have to turn down someone who was very poorly presented or as people put it here "obviously" trans-gendered, much in the same way that if you turn up for a job with a masters degree in the field you're applying for but you have a tattoo of a swastika across your forehead or a racial slur you are going to turn that person down for something other than their qualifications.

Some/Most jobs it's about how you present yourself and are going to work in the job role, if you're having an interview with someone and all that is coming across during it is basically that the person is trans-gendered then they aren't bringing anything to the table really, while I would never discriminate if I was hiring for a spot based on the fact that a person was now not the gender they were born as, I most certainly wouldn't turn a blind eye to the fact that in a lot of job roles something that makes a companies customers uneasy is a terrible thing, regardless of what causes it, and losing customers because of a member of staff for a company should always have the same result as to how that staff member is treated.

why not? who the fuck cares? the only problem is that people would ask if they should use male or female words for him/her, and thats just the first time.

i onl had problems with the looks of a salesmen once, and that was a big big men with prison tattoos selling flowers on the farmers market, i just couldnt stop laughing, but that didnt stopped me from buying flowers there.

Depends on the location.If it was in NYC, Boston, Seattle, Portland then yeah but not if it was in the bible belt or rural conservative areas.

Yes, it's a can of worms. The bolded part is not true. A transexual is a person who is not happy with the gender they were born with and they are actively trying to emulate or become the other gender.  

It's important in a employer to employee relationship to be polite with a transexual employee or applicant (with any employee). You should refer to them as the gender they identify with and to use their prefered name instead of the given one. It's rude to them if you don't. 

pff, a white transgender will be better than a muslime, a black, a latino or a gay person inn these areas...

- Moderated for this post and this post, Carl

If there was only one applicant and he/she was trans-gender, then yes. But...

I think this question must be viewed from the standpoint there are multiple applicants for the job. Let's say there are 5 "normal" and 1 trans-gender and they were all on equal footing skill wise. In this situation I would always go for the "normal" option because my job as a boss would be to make decisions for the benefit of the store. Like it or not, there is very real risk to lose sales having trans-gender work at the store compared to "normal" person. I don't like it but real world and human ethics are pretty fucking far apart. This applies to male/female, old/young, straight/gay etc. for many jobs also. Business in general has no room for emotion.

normal people dont care who is the sales person at a store... there is no risk of losing sales just bcause of a transgender salesmen/women, atleast in normal countrys... but if we talk about the us, i wouldnt hire anybody who isnt white, christian and male, because a big part of the us population is realy stupid and hates everything thats not like em.

even the iran is more modern if it comes to transgender people.

Moderated for this post and this post, Carl

This is a very tricky question.
If they were qualified I'd hire them without hesitation based on my personal beliefs in equality and against discrimination. And also because in all honestly I see no diffrence between a transgender person and any other person. If I was a store owner in my aeria I'd hire them in a heartbeat.

But then reality comes in and to deal with that can be much harder. Unfortunatly there's parts of my country where racism and intolerance still run rampant. Ironically that's mostly because the population there is too homogeneous and they've just not been exposed to any sort of differentness. The only way to help that is education and exposure. To show them that people are just people no matter the color of their skin or their gender or sexual orientation and that diffrent cultures and ways of living can benefit from each other. That is a process that takes time. And sadly sacrifices. There will likely be violence involved.
Vandalism, bashings and arson are things that can and do happen.
Like other people said, if it was a bigger chain, i see no problems but if you are a small business owner that has all of their savings tied up in their business and is dependent on it's success, something like a fire can ruin you for life.
I want to say, I'd still hire them in a heartbeat, I'm just not sure if I'm that brave.

to me it doesn't take heroism or emotional and mental fortitude to do what you think is the right thing, that is cowardise. It takes fortitude to put your family and others ahead of your own personal emotions and ethics. For me my family comes first, if that means I have to do things I disagree with or even are offended by to protect there well being then I will do it in a heartbeat. second would be the health and well being of those that I already employ, I don't believe it is my right to put them out on the street just to make a point to the bigots. If it is just me well and good then I have the luxury of playing the hero and following only my own moral compass, to me cowardise not heroism when you put your personal beliefs before the well being of those that rely upon you for support.