Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm in this odd position where the people I'm around when I do my work (mostly) aren't people employed by my company.  I do my work at a co-working place with other remote workers, and only three of the sixty-ish other members work for the same company I do.  The rest are all remote workers for other companies, some a programmers but there are also authors, lawyers and various other professions.  I'm out to four of the women here, and they've all been super-supportive and accepting (they even chipped in to get me a Sephora gift card for my birthday last month, an helped to pick out the shirt I'm wearing in my avatar), so I know I'm in good company.

More than once I've wished to be Anna around everybody here, especially since I keep arriving earlier and leaving later.  Here is my plan so far:

1) Bring it up at a "maintainers meeting":  The maintainers keep the coworking space running smoothly and do all the behind-the-scene stuff that normal members don't need to be aware of.  I was recruited to be a maintainer a few weeks ago, and one of the people I'm out to is also a maintainer.  I'm thinking I'll eventually bring it up in one of our weekly meetings and then we can discuss informing the rest of the community.  My question here is if I should tell the other people working for my company in advance?

2) I usually walk to the co-working space, and as much as I would like to go 2 miles as Anna I don't think I'm ready for it yet.  I expect I'll change in the bathroom once I arrive, we only have a single shared bathroom so that's not a concern for me.

3) I need more clothes so I'm not recycling the same shirts every week.  I doubt most people would notice, but I would feel better with a bit more variety.  I expect my friends will try to talk me into wearing a dress my first day, and I just may let them!  But I'm still going to drag somebody along on a shopping trip first.

I'm not sure what else needs to be covered... I've had some helpful feedback on my voice over the last week, and I've had a few comments about how it's improved.  A big part of me thinks I'm ready for this, but is there anything else I need to think about before I put my plan into action?

Quote from: Anna! on July 11, 2013, 04:22:19 PM
My question here is if I should tell the other people working for my company in advance?

Personally, I'd lean towards doing so - but it's really tough to say since there are a lot of dynamics with the workplace and what works well at one can be a complete disaster at the next.

I hope it foes good for you

I would offer some input but I would not be
Very helpfull....my work environment is
Very unique

And so are the workers....my advice don't until
You almost pass ...in my case ffs

Quote from: Madison Leigh on July 11, 2013, 04:39:18 PM
Personally, I'd lean towards doing so - but it's really tough to say since there are a lot of dynamics with the workplace and what works well at one can be a complete disaster at the next.

Yeah, I can understand that.  I think I'm at least going to tell one of the three people that work remotely for my company, since I spent the first few years after I was hired working out of his dining room.  I'm more okay with the others finding out in the group email I expect to send later (but I think he'll be supportive, and I'm sure I'll discuss it with him too).

Quote from: xchristine on July 11, 2013, 05:19:02 PM
And so are the workers....my advice don't until
You almost pass ...in my case ffs

My close friends here think that everybody will be accepting of my transition.  We're a closed community, and joining involves going through a "trial week" to make sure that people are a good fit.  Still, I expect I would pick a seat far, far away from windows on the first few days :laugh:.  Wanting to pass better is why I don't want to walk down and risk encountering strangers.