Okay, so now I am out officially at work. I arranged a dept meeting with HR and my dept head. As the meeting started I sent an email to everybody:
"Dear Colleagues,
I am writing this letter to tell you about a matter that is essentially personal but will result in some changes at work. Some have already started to notice some changes in my appearance and it being National Coming Out Day, it's a good day to bring it all to the forefront.
I identify as transgender and am undergoing the transition process. If you anticipated this, that's great! I didn't try to hide my changes over the past year. If you didn't notice, please stick with me. I'm hoping to help you understand this decision and process has been long coming. I have had feelings that question my gender identity as long as I can remember. Imagine what it's like to always have a feeling that something is wrong all the time. This has been a very long roller coaster of a life and I've decided on transitioning to finally be myself and live as I've known myself for so long.
Soon, I will be changing my legal name to "Bari Jo" which is the original name that my parents planned for me before I was assigned male at birth. My immediate family and friends call me Bari Jo, and I will be changing my legal name to Bari Jo and my gender designation from male to female.
There is much to do in the transition process. Without getting into the medical minutia, but please know that I am under professional care following the Standards of Care set out for the treatment of transgender individuals.
I'm very pleased to be able to take this step toward personal wholeness while staying at company I love and doing a job that is very fulfilling. This change will not affect my ability to do my job. In fact, I may be less distracted when I no longer have two personas to juggle. Also, as I enjoy being myself more, you may find me more enjoyable to be around and work with.
Some of you may not understand the life changes I'm undertaking. I would be happy to answer your questions or direct you to additional information. Some may not approve of what I'm doing, but please offer the same basic human rights to me that you would expect to receive yourself.
I ask that you call me by my new name "Bari Jo" and use female pronouns (she, her, her's) when referring to me or about me. I know this will take a little time to get used to, and I do expect that people will make mistakes at first. All I ask is that you try to get it right.
Also to celebrate my coming out to you call, I've brought in a treat. As always, enjoy bringing in treats for my coworkers. This time it's something special, Unicorn Macaroons made by Christine + Ivy (who happens to be my neighbor). These were custom made for just this coming out. Please have one or two at the back table in the bullpen area.
Respectfully,
Bari Jo"
The HR rep read the email aloud, and im told there were cheers at the end of it. The HR rep went over the non discrimination policy and how I will be using the ladies room. Then opened up the questions, but nothing was of consequence, everybody was full of support. I wasn't at the meeting, instead was at a training session. When I got back, my coworkers were already using my name and congratulating me.
Included is a pict of the macaroons.
After work I got my hair colored and styled and it's my new avatar. This one genders me correctly, yay! This outfit is what I'm wearing at the formal event tomorrow night. I can't wait!
All in all a great coming out day!
Bari Jo
