One thing I am concidering is when to come out of my little prison like closet that I live in. I'm currently going to college. At the moment, I havn't started transition, and still working up the nerve to walk into the transgender counciling office at the college. So most likely, I won't be going full time until after I'm done with college and am already teaching highschool art in public schools.

Here's my question.

Has this ever even been done before? If so, how do you go about transitioning on the job as a teacher, coming out to co-workers, administration, and most importantly of all, students? And . . . all of that is, of course, assuming that I wouldn't get fired to begin with for doing it.

Hi, Amy,

My heart goes out to you as you struggle with the completely unnecessary potentialities of being yourself. I honestly don't know what is happening with teaching at the K-12 levels and gender identity discrimination at this point. The courts on the whole are progressing on this issue in the US, and the EEOC has adopted a favorable (read "fair") policy that may well set the stage for further legal advances. It also depends on which state (if you're a U.S. resident) you live in. A handful have protections on the books.

I hope I'm not giving unwanted advice if I suggest that there are other ways of teaching art should K-12 not be available. Colleges and community colleges are must more friendly to human variety than lower-level grades. They require an MFA degree, so there's more schooling involved. But graduate schools are wonderful communities for self-expression of lots of kinds.

If you are traditional college-aged, I would recommend going ahead with your transition before you get into a career that further walls you up. I know from experience thatgender identity does not change, but the number of obligations that hem you in will increase.

I feel like I haven't answered your coming out questions. But I'm trying to address that first part of whether you should if you know, like me, you must.

At this point for me, any advice is good advice, so nothing is unwanted.

I've concidered teaching college art, but highschool art is my dream job, as it would give me the chance to make a bigger difference in student's lives. Pluse . . . I've got 3 years toward it already (It will be around 2 years more before I compleate school), and I'm an older student (32, which makes me anxious about transitioning, as, if I understand correctly, the younger you are, the more effective HRT is). I'm kinda at the age where I need to get back into the work force and start a career . . . so the other reason I'm not currently concidering a masters degree to teach art is simply that I want to get back to work as soon as possible.

As for the state I live in . . . it isn't known for its progressiveness. I'm under the impression that government employees are protected from work place discrimination based on gender identity. I'm not sure if that extends to teachers or not, however.

The good news, Amy, is that things are changing rapidly. I think it's unwise at this point for me to say anything is impossible. HRT is still extraordinarily effective at age 32, a fact to which the photos of many on this forum attest. I'm 44 and seven months in, and the changes have been dramatic. Whatever you decide, please don't lose hope. Also, have you started seeing a therapist? Most universities offer services (you've paid for them) for full-time students.  Good counselors teach us to love ourselves and know our worth.

I am thinking about this too. Are you in the US? In the UK the national press just crucified a transitioning MTF. Because of all the things they were saying about her and the press stalking her, she took her own life a few days ago. Kinda making me worry about it a bit more. I am not sure how much more accepting people in the US might be about it.

I saw that Steph

I'm in the U.S. And while things are quickly changing here, who knows how much they'll change and how fast. There's so much progress for same sex marriage in the states lately . . . but (and don't take this the wrong way . . . I'm absolutely thrilled that things have progressed as much as they have since November) I don't hear much about transgendered issues and rights, which does bother me. Either way, the story about the teacher in England deffinetly caught my attention when I read about it earlier this week and made me nervous to learn about.

And Jennifer, I havn't started seeing a therapist yet at my college, though I plan to.


. . . I just . . . Need to work up the nerve to go schedual an appointment.