So...I found out Friday quite by accident that my company has updated the EEO statement and it now covers gender identity and expression. This makes me a very happy guy!

But the accident part was that a friend was looking at the company job listings and SHE happened to click the EEO link. The updated version isn't uploaded to the employee intranet (employee only site...form/policies/procedures/etc) which leads me to believe it is REALLY recent.

I'm asking a few questions from the HR folks to find out when the changes were made, and making plans for the conversations with the bosses. I don't want to wait (for obvious reasons) but if this just happened within the last week or so, the HR folks and execs may still be sorting things out as far as application of the policy goes. Especially since it hasn't been shot out to the company by mass email blast like every other change has been...including the time of day for the mass fridge clean out on Friday.

Ideas, tips, and suggestions always welcome.

Depending on the size of your organization you should have an EEO coordinator in the HR dept. If not you should have someone there assigned to EEO issues. Sometimes it is a group of people with a label like "Employee Relations". Basically you just call HR and ask them if you can set up a confidential conversation about a sensitive matter related to EEO.

In this meeting (usually it will be one on one) you should ask them what would be the ideal way of notifying your coworkers ahead of time who might be alarmed by your arriving at work presenting as your preferred gender so as to cause the minimal disruption to operations. Feel free to tell them how much you love working there and how you wouldn't want to cause any disruption or misunderstandings.

Document that this meeting happened. Document what script they gave you to follow. Follow their script for "coming out" to your coworkers.

Basically, if you do this, there is no way in hell the company could possibly hope to use your identity or any activity related to your identity as an excuse to penalize you. You would have basically asked the company how they want you to behave, behaved accordingly, and then gotten fired for it, and that is wrongful termination irregardless of whether they are bound by anti-discrimination laws.

Also, I recommend storing the documentation somewhere other than the company. Emailing a private email account could be a good way to ensure the documentation gets timestamped.

This may seem paranoid, but yeah, this is your job we're talking about right?
Also of course be aware that the fact that EEO policy is anti-discriminatory toward your class does not guarantee that your coworkers will not discriminate.

Be sure to document any discriminatory activity during and after coming out to your coworkers as well. If one of your supervisors decides to "go nuclear" and fire you, you will need this.

-Anna

All good points, thank you!

As an FTM....I have been wearing khaki pants/button down shirts and the occasion tie with men's dress shoes in the office and this is what people are used to seeing. Short hair etc. So thankfully I don't face going from one "gendered" clothing to the other.

We have an HR person who oversees "Diversity" and "Policy & Procedure" along with the super HR Director. I'm assuming those are two people I need to get with. 

I have three bosses. The Idiot Boss, the Cool Boss, and the VP. The Idiot Boss is the one I'm worried about...but with this odd structure where the Idiot Boss and Cool Boss are jointly over me and the VP over them...I am hoping the Idiot Boss can't do too much damage.....

But still, you are correct that one cannot be too careful....

In my situation, I started by making an appointment with the Diversity person. She set up a meeting with my boss, and she handled telling the department head and VP-types. I only had to directly come out to my boss and immediate co-workers with the Diversity people present.

Gender identity was a recent inclusion in the policy at my workplace as well, and it really took some of the stress off me knowing it was there.

When I met with the Diversity person, I came with a list of concerns and solutions - and she took copious notes during our meeting. Be prepared to answer their questions and provide a list of people that need to be informed, when you want to come out, which bathroom you intend to use, when you're applying for your legal name change, etc. Having all your ducks in a row going in will make you appear confident and prepared and capable of transitioning so as to cause the least amount of disruption.

If you're already presenting male, which I was, too, you should be fine. The only new thing I added after coming out was men's shoes 😛

-Jay

One never can tell when changes will roll through a work place.
When I started there was a TS treatment exemption in the health policy...Poof it disappeared without notice a couple years later. The a couple more years later here I am, insurance covered my SRS.

Meeting held, it was a raging success. There is zilch as far as diversity/inclusion programs or any transition format/timeline/framework....since this is all new to the company. But our HR seems to really rock....in the light of not having such things yet, I was invited to help our HR create them.

I'm calling this a big WIN on all sides.

That is awesome! Congrats!

Be sure to do your research. Look for other companies or suggested processes online. You get to be a vanguard for the rest of us, which is both awesome and I am sure a bit scary. Keep us up to date!

-Anna