Coming Out at Work

Last time I posted, I talked about coming out to my parents, and that was hard. Surprisingly enough, the thing I thought would be harder was actually easier: coming out at work.

Background, I work in the service industry as the assistant manager of a store. I was seen as a "Problem Solver", and therefore I was moved around stores a lot. There was a General Manager who ran a store that had several FtMs and MtFs in the past, and I had always wanted to work with her because then I'd feel more safe coming out.

So shortly after coming out to my family, I get randomly transferred to her store. Sensing massive opportunity, I first drop the bomb on our District Manager, who takes it quite well (she had a trans roomie in college), and she informs our owner. They work it out and offer their support, so I then came out to my GM and explained everything that was going on. We then informed/educated the rest of our management team, and we then did the same for each employee individually, while our DM took care of managers in the other stores.

I was lucky, though I feel any forward progress I could have made in the company is now stalled by what I am. But that's not such a huge deal, as I only work this job to pay the bills. I realize how lucky and how easy I've had it compared to other trans people. Everyone has been so accepting and wonderful about it, even if they sometimes have issues with pronouns (I had been there a month before coming out, so they knew me as a guy).

I came out at work really early in my transition, but I had good reasons. I always looked very androgynous. Even years ago, without facial hair I would sometimes get confused for a woman. By the time I came to this store, I was a 2 months on hormones and I didn't look andro anymore, I looked fem. It got to the point where guys would walk into the Men's Room while I was in there and freak out because there was a girl in there. When I wasn't working (and therefore in full fem mode), women didn't even blink when I went into the Women's Room. I was passing accidentally. It was problematic.

Fast forward 6 months, I'm full time in all aspects of my life. I go to stores I was at previously, everyone I knew from before is wonderful to me about my transition. I use the Women's Room at work proudly and without incident. The newer employees don't even know that I was a male, they accept me absolutely. It makes me happy, and I realize how extremely lucky I am as a trans woman. People comment on my height sometimes, but no one calls me out or brings it up. It's as if I've always been this way, and some of my friends from previous stores have told me in private that they weren't surprised and always kind of suspected, but that's fodder for another post...