Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I've been putting off coming out at work, because up until recently I NEVER passed..my voice might as well have been a big red neon sign over my head that lit up "GIRL" every time I spoke. I felt awkward breaching the subject as A) I didn't pass and forcing people I barely knew to use male pronouns with a blatantly female-bodied person in front of customers seemed intrusive and wrong of me, and more importantly B) my job is a small family-owned restaraunt and isn't protected by law nor policy...so if my manager didn't like it he could just fire me at the drop of a hat (stupid at-will employment), and I REALLY can't afford to be unemployed right now.

After a couple weeks on T, I'm getting sir'd more and more...and coworkers are starting to ask if I'm coming down with something as I'm getting that "sore throat" sound to me, even though it's not. I even got chewed out by an old guy in front of my manager and three other workers for not double checking his order...called me "young man" in a very stern, loud voice (had to suppress a grin at that one).

So, got me curious... when did you all come out at work/school? When you first started dressing the part? When you went on T? After a name change? And how was it handled?

Quote from: Chris the Wookie Slayer on November 14, 2009, 08:33:17 PM
I felt awkward breaching the subject as A) I didn't pass and forcing people I barely knew to use male pronouns with a blatantly female-bodied person in front of customers seemed intrusive and wrong of me

I felt the same way. I wanted to be addressed as male, but wasn't sure exactly how to go about doing it. I mean, would you just go up to all your co-workers and be like, "call me he, okay?" I waited until I got my name changed, since I would have to inform my job of this anyway. I would have to give them some sort of explanation for changing my name from an obviously female name to an obviously male one... At that point I was around 3 months on T. I told my boss[es] I was was trans and wished to be referred to accordingly. They passed the info along to everyone else. There was never an issue.

I waited until being on T a few months, my voice was just to girly up until then.
Myles

I was full time for about a year before getting on T, coming out to those who needed to know shortly before graduating from highschool.  I was lucky in that I have limited contacts, none who I really cared about keeping up with, and was starting at a new school.  So at school I just introduced myself with a male name and to the few people who I knew from before and told about transitioning, I just said "I am transitioning to male now.  Please use the appropriate pronouns, titles, etc. or get lost."  Not the most friendly of responses, but I feel that if they have a problem with me and my transition, then I do not want to have anything to do with them.

I started actively presenting as male at work six and a half weeks after my first shot. My voice was changing but clearly wasn't masculine yet. I had not had top surgery, but I was binding every day. I've always worn male clothing at work, I've always had the male name at work, and I've always gone by "Mr." at work. All the same, some of my students called me "he" and some called me "she."

I had spoken to the HR person several weeks before, and I crafted an announcement that she sent around to the entire department. I started using the unisex bathrooms in my building. I didn't want to use the men's room until I was clearly "passing."

I felt a little weird about being in the "ambiguous gender zone," but that only lasted for spring quarter. Over the summer I masculinized even more, had top surgery, and changed my docs. Now I use the mens' room at work, and my students uniformly call me "he."