Are you out at work?

[Greeneyedrebel]

I have been out to the department I work in, HR,  and a few others I work closely with since the first shot. Thankfully, it's a small department within a huge company and even in the building I work in, 98% of the people don't know my name.

It's been a slow transition, I began binding before T, so the changes have been subtle to those that see me in a hallway etc. Thanks to not knowing my name, those that didn't know me as "old name" will only know me as my true name, no re-introducing necessary.

Since I have been here for years, there was the bathroom dilemma, which I think I solved in a creative way. When I began transition, I began using the bathroom furthest from my little office cave. This gave me the benefit of NOT having those people know who the heck I was. When I switched to the men's room, I began using the one closest to my desk, without incident. But I avoided the issue of someone realizing this person went in one door last week and now a different door. Yes, it was more inconvenient for me in some ways, but easier in others.

The company is amazing with it all though, I have had full backing all the way up the chain since day one, including a note from the CEO and COO. I can not imagine an easier workplace transition that what I experienced.

[Carrie Liz]

No, I'm not out at work. I'm considering it, but I'm so scared of no longer being treated like a normal girl by people, so I've kept it quiet even though I'm also feeling guilty for not being honest with people about my past.

Pre-transition, I had two awful experiences with work.

I stayed closeted while I was working at my original job. The distress from being stuck as male caused my stress level to be so high that I had a meltdown one night, I blew up at a supervisor after I made a mistake, and I got fired for it.

At my second job, I came out as trans at work, and let the manager know that I was planning on transitioning once I started passing as female a reasonable amount of the time. Less than two weeks later, I mysteriously found myself fired for absolutely no reason. (But with no legal protections since I was only a probationary hire, and no way to legally prove that it was because I was trans, there was nothing I could do about it.)

I started this current job legally post-transition and stealth, and I've kept it that way ever since.

[Mariah]

Out at work as in having transitioned at work yes. However, I'm not going around telling everyone their I'm trans. Since my job takes me into clients homes only those people who knew me before have any clue otherwise they know nothing of my past and that is the way I plan to keep unless the need arises. They know me as Mariah and that is that.
Mariah

[Anna-Maria]

I´m a Legal Counsel in a bank and recently  I came out  to my supervisor. I asked him for a personal meeting and I was super anxious before and hell, I didn´t know how but eventually I told him blatantly that I´m trans and on hormones and I´m planning to transition at the workplace.

Astonishingly all went so fine, I´ve never even dared to imagine. He was supportive from the very beginning and being a liberal and a  father of 4 daughters obviously gave him a deeper sense of understanding for feminity. In our discourse he suddenly confessed that he just guessed for quite a time before our meeting that something´s up with me and he was literally the first person I´ve ever met who guessed that I might be trans. I sat there like I was struck by a lightning. He immediately assured me for every possible support, he is backing me up and he led talks with HR and they´re absolutely fine with me transitioning at the workplace also. In a few weeks we´re going to start individual talks with the colleagues at the Legal Department. I think, coming top-down with this issue and the fact that most of my colleagues are really nice and liberal people (we are counting approximately 70% women in the department) gave me a pretty improvement in confidence.

I´m so happy about this! 

xoxo

[Devlyn]

I voted Yes, by choice. It's a small company, and they love their Devlyn!   

Hugs, Devlyn

[DogSpirit]

I'm a work-at-home freelancer now, but I outed myself at the interview for my previous employer. I wanted to set that tone, and my employer was fine about it. (My "outing" was simply that I was a married gay woman.) Actually he was better than fine. He gave me a project one day with the introduction that it was "right up my alley": a collection of readings on deviant behavior. I loved his sense of humor.

-- Sue

[SophiaBleu]

I'm not out at work yet, but considering my FB page and all the trans stuff I post to it, also considering that a lot of my friends on FB are work mates. I'm sure they think something...

[Kylo]

Interesting question... there's no way for people to know unless I broadcast it, as I'm self-employed and sell my works via the internet.

I don't see broadcasting it in my profession as advantageous or even relevant, really. My works don't have a trans theme. If they did, it would probably be very advantageous to be out and proud, so to speak, and might even mean I sold more in the right areas. But they don't and it would probably alienate or disgust a few buyers if I mentioned it in my listings, or on the "about me" information for my stores. If it's something I can possibly keep as private as I can, I will. I wasn't sure if I'd want to be out in the years before now, but at this point I don't think it's necessary to be out to customers. It just seems like TMI in this case.

[HappyMoni]

I am out at work. I personally told about 80 people and it went extremely well. I work in the school system and know many parents pretty well. My problem is that I am not out to them. I don't know how to handle coming back next year after FFS and presenting as Moni. Does anyone have experience coming out to parents in a school setting? There is no way to hide and I am not changing schools.
Moni

[arice]

I don't work now. When I did work, I was very free to be myself. I never came out per se but I didn't need to. I was seen as a guy even without ever saying anything or transitioning. I acted like one and was therefore treated as one no questions asked.
The only time anyone cared about my sex/gender was when management decreed that I couldn't share a hotel room with male technicians when we were in the field... so I missed out on a major 3 province trip because we didn't have the grant funding for two hotel rooms.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

[steyraug96]

I am out at work. I personally told about 80 people and it went extremely well. I work in the school system and know many parents pretty well. My problem is that I am not out to them. I don't know how to handle coming back next year after FFS and presenting as Moni. Does anyone have experience coming out to parents in a school setting? There is no way to hide and I am not changing schools.
Moni

Wish I had answers for you.
In my situation, I'm hoping to be taken for female first, and then use the law as a shield. (I'm living in a blue state that's fairly accepting. If I could get them to care about the IMPORTANT differences, and STOP caring about the BS ones, it'd be perfect - but neither here nor there...)

It SOUNDS like, you should be able to either BS your way through it ("I had work done" should anyone ask; could be an accident, could be vanity, could be none of their business.  ;-) )
Or you officially leave, and are someone new.
A cousin, maybe.  Again, if anyone cares, asks, and you're willing to tell them.

But I'm in a technical role, and my skills are far more important than my looks. (I'm hardly the ugliest person here.  ;-)  )

-Dianna

[sparrow]

Yes... ish.  My wardrobe is all over the map.  I wear a purse to/from work, I wear women's skinny jeans, cardigans, bright saturated colors... 100% women's clothes except for one men's shirt, actually.  But only 4 people know:  HR and my supervisor, since we're planning my "gender rollout" and another two people because they randomly intersected my outside life.  I recently bought a bunch of work-appropriate dresses and skirts, and I'll bust 'em out the day after rollout.

[DogSpirit]

I am out at work. I personally told about 80 people and it went extremely well. I work in the school system and know many parents pretty well. My problem is that I am not out to them. I don't know how to handle coming back next year after FFS and presenting as Moni. Does anyone have experience coming out to parents in a school setting? There is no way to hide and I am not changing schools.
Moni

I salute your courage: a school system would seem to be an especially difficult situation for gender truthfulness in many ways. Yet such good people work in school systems. I hope Moni is accepted kindly.

-- Sue

[HappyMoni]

I salute your courage: a school system would seem to be an especially difficult situation for gender truthfulness in many ways. Yet such good people work in school systems. I hope Moni is accepted kindly.

-- Sue

Thanks, Sue! I work with amazing people. They have been incredibly kind.

Wish I had answers for you.

It SOUNDS like, you should be able to either BS your way through it ("I had work done" should anyone ask; could be an accident, could be vanity, could be none of their business.  ;-) )
Or you officially leave, and are someone new.
A cousin, maybe.  Again, if anyone cares, asks, and you're willing to tell them.

-Dianna

Dianna, this actually helped. I realized I can not lie about this. I work with students with autism, so I am very close to some parents. Any deception would not be right. I am just afraid the principal will move me to avoid problems with parents. I dread the thought of losing my "guys." I need to tell my most familiar parent and hope for the best, I guess.
Moni

[JayceeTG]

I am not out at work and I am not sure I would get that much of a positive vibe from people if I did. Plus I live full time as a man anyway so I would only come out if I was on hormones and started to see body changes because hiding breasts would be hard to do lol

[Jin]

It was pretty obvious when I showed up on day 2 in a dress and heels. Never had to say anything to anyone, I just let them see me as I am. Some days I dress male, some days I dress female. And some days I mix styles. Why not be open with yourself?

[Sspar]

Best advice for coming out at work.. positive attitude and own it 100%

[sarah1972]

Out to one person at work and two at a customers (main customers I work with). I guess once HRT starts kicking in, I have to tell more...
I am working home office and over the years have been more at the above two mentioned customers than I have been in any corporate office, so I guess letting them know is almost more important since I spend a whole lot of time time there and it is getting harder by the day to hide...

[eyesk8rboi]

I chose I'm only out to certain people....

I'm not technically out, but I wouldn't say I'm in.
I haven't had an official conversation with management, but I haven't done anything to try and hide it either. -shrugs-

[RobynD]

Self-Employed with a company that has a business partner, employees and contractors. Have been out since 2014 before HRT but basically they had seen me dress and present feminine well before that.