I think it's great that even amid the barrage of crazy "Bathroom Bills" going around from state to state there ARE plenty of people in positions to make a difference for the trans community who have our backs.
I've worked at this company for over 8 years, and most of that was presenting female. Ish. So it had been the ladies room. My office moved into the corporate building as part of a lateral move that was step one of a promotion right before I started T. And before I had told anyone anything.
So the first few months of T found me still in the ladies room, because I was being a chicken and wasn't at all sure what this big company was going to say. To the best of my research skills, our EEO policy hadn't been updated since 2008 and what I found left a LOT of room for problems.
Then one day a friend of mine sent me a link. She had found a copy of our new EEO policy in a industry magazine of all places!!! This was also right around the time that the company got voted into the Forbes list and such, but the policy predated the vote.
I had to wonder..."Why isn't this public to the employees?" So my response was to have a chat with HR the next day I was at work. I dug around and found a secondary job title of "Diversity Coordinator", and decided it was time to meet her. The whole thing went better than my wildest dreams.
I had only been in the corporate offices a month or so, but there were people that knew me from before, so I was hesitant to do anything public.
But the answer was the same as many here have reported...use the bathroom that matches your presentation, and if someone doesn't like that they can go deal with the head of HR. NO ONE here wants to deal with the head of HR. She can either be your best friend or your worst enemy, and it all depends on whether or not you conduct yourself in a professional manner and whether or not you do your freaking job. She has no time, spoons, or >-bleeped-<s for anything less.
She (with my approval) send a quick email to all the corporate managers informing them that there was a transgender employee and that the company expected them and their staffs to continue to conduct themselves in a professional manner that adheres to the company's values and standards. And that all problems should be directed to her personally.
Much to my surprise, no one had a dang thing to say. I even asked her out of her curiosity.
I received messages of support from the CEO directly, assuring me that he was fully in support and that while tho "who" was not being shared with the employees, the board and the rest of the exec staff was also in my corner.
The point of my ramble is....sometimes people surprize us in the best of ways. It wasn't long after that note from the CEO that I happened to pass him entering the bathroom as I was exiting...right around lunch too so of course there was plenty of traffic in the area. He greeted me by name and asked how everything was going.
The CEO of a multi-billion dollar company....I can't imagine an action on his part that would have made a bigger statement of support that to pause in the entrance to the men's room to greet the transguy by name with a smile and ask how everything was going.
