I made it through week one and it was great! The announcement had went out to a LOT of people which included our division of 300 people then various department heads throughout campus. I received a lot of heartwarming messages of support from people. Someone bought me flowers which was awesome!
The only problem I encountered was trying to get them to change my gender flag in my records. They had said I needed to show proof of fully transitioning before they could do that. Philadelphia law states they can't ask me to show proof of that for anything other than official records such as tax records. So, I contacted a director at our LGBT center and she took care of that!
The main HR person called me and gave me contact information for someone in affirmative action and I meet with them on Monday to fill out a form and then take that form to HR where they will then change my gender flag.
I also went to the dentist on campus this week and my doctor's assistant asked me if I wanted to change my name in my dental records and of course I said yes. She changed that and then as I went through the billing office there another lady asked me if I wanted to change my gender marker! She changed that and told me how good I looked and that was that! Didn't even ask them to change anything. They are fabulous there!
The LGBT center is going to be meeting with the HR folks soon to develop specific protocols to deal with transitions at Penn. Even though things were a bit bumpy with mine at least it will end up helping others who transition here.
So I would say the week was a huge success!
