At work there is a group of us who are  friendly and joke around a lot. Sometimes we tease each other about being the 'token _____." Of course, I am one of the tokens, since  I am the only trans person. Most of the time, I just try to pass with new folks as best I can. It occurred to me recently, that because of my uniqueness at work, maybe new people might be intimidated by being around me since they don't know my story like the oldies do. I mean who knows how to talk to a trans person right? I was wondering if anyone else had times  where they got pleasure from this uniqueness. Kinda like, "That's right, I'm trans! Uh huh." Maybe its a little pride in having a story like no one else.
Moni

I am not out to enough people to experience this as a trans person yet but I have been a bit unique I am a real trans woman and proud of it I spent too much time being a fake man not to be proud

    bobbisue

Proud Token here.   

Although they tell me I'm the poster child for the company's diversity program. I guess it sounds better! 

Hugs, Devlyn

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on November 11, 2017, 07:18:10 AM
Proud Token here.   

Although they tell me I'm the poster child for the company's diversity program. I guess it sounds better! 

Hugs, Devlyn

Devlyn, that comment reminds me of the old Rodney Dangerfield joke about him being the poster child for birth control. Agh, I tell ya, I get no respect.

You reminded me with your picture to thank you for your service and to all the veterans out there.

There is talk of having a cultural diversity group were I work and I signed up to be included. I am kind of torn though. On one hand it might be a chance to advocate and teach folks more about being trans. I like the idea of increasing understanding. On the other hand, for any new people, it would kind of be against my approach of me just meeting them as a person and not 'the trans person.' Gosh, why does every problem have to have two sides. It makes it so hard. Why Rodney, why?
Moni

They deny it,  but I'm sure the fact I'm the only open, out and active trans* person (of literally thousands of employees) at my company is why I'm now on the LGBT leadership team.
To be fair there are a couple of other trans* I'm aware of, but they prefer a lower profile.
Even when I was closeted, I always preferred being the odd-one-out, it kind of defined me,  hence my dislike of any label.

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The people I work with know I'm trans but it's not something I discuss with people. But in the beauty industry being trans is no big shocker for anyone. I find it weird how some people take being PC so seriously. I've had people call me " vertically challenged". Really? Lol, I know I'm short, it's ok to say short. Once one of my clients had returned from a Florida vacation and she had a beautiful tan and was telling me how fun the beach was. Then she just stopped and said " oh, I'm sorry. I guess you don't get to visit beaches being pigmentally challenged". Wait, what?? Pigmentally challenged???  Really? That made me laugh so hard. I told her it was ok to say albino and that it wasn't a nasty or insulting word. She said she didn't know and she didn't want to offend me. I don't believe people should use derogatory or racial terms but I also think people take it too far. I guess instead of calling my brother a big dummy I should say "common sense challenged" I keep expecting someone to bust out with " gender challenged".

Moni!!!! Yes, girl!!!! I take pride in my uniqueness everytime I go out to say Wal-mart or any other store. I figure I am educating people that don't know any better or only heard of trans from the tv. So I love my uniqueness as well at work and outside work. Everyone at my job seem to be accepting even the new ones coming in. They just don't know my story like you said like the old blood. Which I am okay with because if I transfer or go someplace else they won't know it either. It be like when you break a bone you explain it to everyone what happened. So we will be explaining our stories to new people continually and I am okay with that because I want others to understand and learn about differences. I can't assume people know about trans issues or anything about us. So celebrate our uniqueness!!!!!!!!!

Quote from: Julia1996 on November 11, 2017, 08:06:56 AM
The people I work with know I'm trans but it's not something I discuss with people. But in the beauty industry being trans is no big shocker for anyone. I find it weird how some people take being PC so seriously. I've had people call me " vertically challenged". Really? Lol, I know I'm short, it's ok to say short. Once one of my clients had returned from a Florida vacation and she had a beautiful tan and was telling me how fun the beach was. Then she just stopped and said " oh, I'm sorry. I guess you don't get to visit beaches being pigmentally challenged". Wait, what?? Pigmentally challenged???  Really? That made me laugh so hard. I told her it was ok to say albino and that it wasn't a nasty or insulting word. She said she didn't know and she didn't want to offend me. I don't believe people should use derogatory or racial terms but I also think people take it too far. I guess instead of calling my brother a big dummy I should say "common sense challenged" I keep expecting someone to bust out with " gender challenged".

You are channeling my thoughts exactly.


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Quote from: Julia1996 on November 11, 2017, 08:06:56 AM
The people I work with know I'm trans but it's not something I discuss with people. But in the beauty industry being trans is no big shocker for anyone. I find it weird how some people take being PC so seriously. I've had people call me " vertically challenged". Really? Lol, I know I'm short, it's ok to say short. Once one of my clients had returned from a Florida vacation and she had a beautiful tan and was telling me how fun the beach was. Then she just stopped and said " oh, I'm sorry. I guess you don't get to visit beaches being pigmentally challenged". Wait, what?? Pigmentally challenged???  Really? That made me laugh so hard. I told her it was ok to say albino and that it wasn't a nasty or insulting word. She said she didn't know and she didn't want to offend me. I don't believe people should use derogatory or racial terms but I also think people take it too far. I guess instead of calling my brother a big dummy I should say "common sense challenged" I keep expecting someone to bust out with " gender challenged".

Though I do prefer the term "sanity challenged" over "bat-$%&* crazy". Now where did my waffle run off to...

Quote from: Julia1996 on November 11, 2017, 08:06:56 AM
The people I work with know I'm trans but it's not something I discuss with people. But in the beauty industry being trans is no big shocker for anyone. I find it weird how some people take being PC so seriously. I've had people call me " vertically challenged". Really? Lol, I know I'm short, it's ok to say short. Once one of my clients had returned from a Florida vacation and she had a beautiful tan and was telling me how fun the beach was. Then she just stopped and said " oh, I'm sorry. I guess you don't get to visit beaches being pigmentally challenged". Wait, what?? Pigmentally challenged???  Really? That made me laugh so hard. I told her it was ok to say albino and that it wasn't a nasty or insulting word. She said she didn't know and she didn't want to offend me. I don't believe people should use derogatory or racial terms but I also think people take it too far. I guess instead of calling my brother a big dummy I should say "common sense challenged" I keep expecting someone to bust out with " gender challenged".

I get it that being politically  correct can go too far. At least I think it is coming from a place of wanting to be respectful. You know, what older folks used to call being polite back in the day. When it has gone too far, there has been a backlash. There are those you get absolutely furious at having to change anything. They seem to revel in how they are hurt by being respectful to others who are in a minority, you know PC. Blaming PC is kind of like a get out of jail free card for some folks to be as rude as they want. (Not you Julia, I mean in general.)
   My apologies to the OP for this tangent. She is really scary and gets weird about tangents. Guess she is tempermentally challenged.
Moni
   So to get in line with the thread, Julia, you could be considered the token albino. Do you have times where  you are proud to be different because of it? Or do you just want people to ignore it and just see you as Julia? I guess you don't try to pass as a non-albino person but the thought is similar to my transgender original post.

Quote from: HappyMoni on November 11, 2017, 08:59:45 AM
   I get it that being politically  correct can go too far. At least I think it is coming from a place of wanting to be respectful. You know, what older folks used to call being polite back in the day. When it has gone too far, there has been a backlash. There are those you get absolutely furious at having to change anything. They seem to revel in how they are hurt by being respectful to others who are in a minority, you know PC. Blaming PC is kind of like a get out of jail free card for some folks to be as rude as they want. (Not you Julia, I mean in general.)
   My apologies to the OP for this tangent. She is really scary and gets weird about tangents. Guess she is tempermentally challenged.
Moni
   So to get in line with the thread, Julia, you could be considered the token albino. Do you have times where  you are proud to be different because of it? Or do you just want people to ignore it and just see you as Julia? I guess you don't try to pass as a non-albino person but the thought is similar to my transgender original post.

I've never been proud of being different. But I have no choice but to deal with it because I can't do anything about it. I would love for people to just ignore the fact I'm albino but no way is that going to happen. People always stare. But it's usually more of a curious type of staring rather than the sad pity stare I've seen people give someone who's disabled or something. I suppose I could try passing as a non albino person. I could dye my hair and use flesh colored make up but I would have to wear it on my arms and legs too. Being albino doesn't bother me enough to go that far though. I wear eyebrow pencil and mascara which covers the white lashes and brows. I also wear colored contacts to make my eyes look somewhat normal but even with the colored lenses the color isn't totally normal but sometimes some colors look pretty. My newest ones are chocolate brown. With the red tones in my eyes it makes them look really pretty. Eye makeup and colored lenses are the only things I do. I'm not trying to pass for a non albino but rather I'm trying to look a little less weird.

I'm not ashamed of being albino or trans but I'm also not proud of being either. I'm not saying anything negative to those who are proud to be trans but for me I just can't be proud of something that has caused me so much pain and ruined my life. But no matter what makes you different, being trans, albino, really tall, whatever, if you own it people will have more respect for you. I think that especially applies to being trans. If you act ashamed in public people will agree with you and depending on the person they might make nasty comments trying to shame you more. It doesn't matter if you're passable or not if you own it people will be less likely to try to "shame" you. Everyone at work knows I'm trans. As long as they are respectful I really don't care if I am the token transgirl.

I am proud to be transgender.  Being the only trans person in a room is not something to be proud of; it's just a matter of statistics.  But I am sure that I am the token trans person for a lot of people I encounter on a casual basis. 

I find that a lot of people are especially nice to me.  When my wife and I go into a store or restaurant, we are often greeted by "Hello, ladies," big smiles, friendly chit-chat  I'm not complaining.  But I suspect that they are making a point of being nice to the token trans person.  I'm sure a lot of them go home at the end of the day and congratulate themselves on how accepting they are.  "Guess what, honey?  I was nice to a trans person today." 

I don't begreudge them that at all.  They should congratulate themselves, and they should feel good, because people should be nice to each other.

You don't know. They may go home and say "I seated a transgender woman today at work, God, I admire their strength." 

Hugs, Devlyn

Hi Moni,

I did not respond to this thread at first because I have never felt like a "Token Trans" in any situation. There are places that have known me well since before my transition and accept me well now. They don't bring up that I have changed, we just interact as people do. At times I bring up the issue when it is contributing but for the most part I just live as me. I do choose to live openly as myself and take advantage of any teaching moments that become available: my primary care physician and my dentist have very little experience in the transgender world so I play teacher there as much as possible. My wife and I have also just begun speaking on transgender panels if and when we are invited. Just last Thursday we spoke to a sexuality class of ~170 students at a local university, a fun teaching opportunity that probably taught us as much as it did the class. Does that make me/us "Token"? If it does I have no problems with it.

Anne

Many times I'm happy to be the token.  Even it's because I think differently, it makes me memorable.  Usually this in on a good way.  If it's negative, that does bother me.  So if they view trans people negatively and I'm the token trans, then yes, I'd be unhappy being the token.  I'd still be me though.

Bari Jo

I am FAR from the 'token' at my work. I know there are several in my plant and its sister plant closer to the city.
(One of the girls even goes to my electrologist.)

I AM the first in my local to openly transition, and I'm told now there's another who's beginning now that I'm kinda.. leading the way I guess?

To be honest though, I'm not really socialized at work as though I'm trans (by most..) Weird considering I've known most of the people I work with directly for years. But when interacting with strangers I'm genuinely taken for any other girl. (Which I much prefer.)

That said, there ARE things I find myself doing now at work, that I never in a million years thought I would.
(Like wearing a 'pronouns' sticker on my hard hat to remind the more forgetful..)

Quote from: Angela Drakken on November 11, 2017, 02:51:59 PM
I am FAR from the 'token' at my work. I know there are several in my plant and its sister plant closer to the city.
(One of the girls even goes to my electrologist.)

I AM the first in my local to openly transition, and I'm told now there's another who's beginning now that I'm kinda.. leading the way I guess?

To be honest though, I'm not really socialized at work as though I'm trans (by most..) Weird considering I've known most of the people I work with directly for years. But when interacting with strangers I'm genuinely taken for any other girl. (Which I much prefer.)

That said, there ARE things I find myself doing now at work, that I never in a million years thought I would.
(Like wearing a 'pronouns' sticker on my hard hat to remind the more forgetful..)

My pronouns sticker says Me, My, Mine, and Gimme! 

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on November 11, 2017, 03:33:32 PM
My pronouns sticker says Me, My, Mine, and Gimme! 

classic.

Lol

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There are about 15 out trans at work; we have about 15,000 employees. I am the first to transition at work. We have a large amount of LGBT and are a teaching hospital and research enterprise.  I am in senior management and am definitely a token.