Work and gender marker on ID

[arbon]

Hi

Quite a few times I have heard it said here that when when applying for a job, or going for an interview, to not mention that you are trans. Which makes sense and I completely understand why you shouldn't.

But, my question is, if you are early in transition, lost the job you where hoping to transition at and you do have your name changed but can't get you gender marker changed - well, how do you explain that to potential employers? For that matter if you are early in transition, how can hide your past when it is all still right there staring you in the face?

How do you explain it to potential employers?

[Hope]

My current job is working at the cosmetics counter at a department store. I applied for it early in transition (after I lost my previous gig where I was the chief administrator of an organization of over 300 and had a decent salary and health benefits and the respect of people in the community etc...) I still didn't have my name changed, and I was just starting the UGLY stage of transition...

I was very upfront about it and put it right in my cover letter... Of course I did it in such a way as to explain why seemingly "Mr. Guy" wanted to work in the cosmetics department...

But if you can't yet go stealth - if things aren't in order, if you are not 100% passable yet - you have no other choice. You have to be upfront, and say this is who and what I am" And by all means, play it as a benefit to the organization you are applying to in whatever way you can... but you have to let the VERY efficient jerk filter that being trans is, filter out the shitty employers who wouldn't want to hire a tranny. Which unfortunately is most of them. On the other hand if you are applying for a gig with one of the companies listed in the HRC database with a 100 point score... being trans may be a benefit... let affirmative action and inclusive hiring policies give you the boost you need.

I guarantee you - it works. Whenever the company executives come to the store to do a site visit, they ALL know my name, they ALL know exactly who I am, and they all stop by my counter to introduce themselves - and check me out. Which means that when you get your new gig - you have to be at the top of your game. You have to be the best at what you do. Because you are a proxy for the rest of us, and if you look like a schmuck, we all will be judged based on your example. When you get a gig as a trans woman, you owe it to the rest of us to be bad-ass at whatever you do.

[gretchen2]

ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

[arbon]

In Idaho you need surgery to change your marker, though from what I understand an orchiectomy can suffice. The new standards of care guidelines may make that come a bit sooner....

[Traci Elizabeth]

For those who have their name changed and gender changed on all their legal documents, I see NO reason to tell anyone that you are trans-gender. Why would you do that?

[CharleneT]

For those who have their name changed and gender changed on all their legal documents, I see NO reason to tell anyone that you are trans-gender. Why would you do that?

I agree, but the reason that you might need to do so is that any simple background check is going to bring up your past. Most potential employers do at least a basic background check these days. It is not unusual for them to do a more extensive one. Now ... there is a bit of an art to it. I have applied for and gotten two different jobs while I was pre-op. Both did background checks, surely both then found out my past. Neither ever brought it up, nor did I. I think you have to be prepared to answer questions even though few employers will ask them.

I also think that Hope makes a good point: be very good at your job (assuming you get it). Not just as quasi ambassador for TS folks, but because in the end the employer really just wants a good employee. Give them a reason to want to keep you and chances are very good they will. In my current job I did this and it really helped when I needed a medical leave for surgery, but I did not have enough "time served" to be granted such a leave. My employer did it anyway, and it is because I worked my buns off to make myself valuable to them.

[Traci Elizabeth]

When I had a background check, it came back - No record.

And when I submitted a finger print card for a FBI and state criminal check for a new concealed weapons permit/license with my new name and sex being Female, it came back with "no criminal record" and I got my license.

[arbon]

For those who have their name changed and gender changed on all their legal documents, I see NO reason to tell anyone that you are trans-gender. Why would you do that?

But what if you CAN'T change your gender marker? That is what I am asking.

[Hope]

For those who have their name changed and gender changed on all their legal documents, I see NO reason to tell anyone that you are trans-gender. Why would you do that?

Because it simply isn't that easy...

I have all my documents changed, well, most of them, I am still in the process of getting ALL of them changed... I swear to god there is some new identification bureaucracy created every bleeding day. But that is a moot issue here.

I bought a new car a week ago... My drivers license says F, my CC says F, even my SSA file says F, all with my girl name.... but when they ran my credit at the dealer... guess what showed up? Some guy was using MY SS#, and I had 0 credit history, which lead to a 0 score instead of the 803 I used to have...

You think I didn't have to have a talk with the credit people? You think I didn't have to out myself? Not because I didn't have all my documents together, but because whatever credit reporting agency the dealer used didn't have all of THEIR documents together. And don't think that this is going to be a short-term problem either. Sure, eventually my credit score will catch up with me and getting credit will be less of a hassle, and I will no longer have to have "the conversation" but do you really think that Equifax isn't going to keep a record that I changed my name from Mr. Hope to Mrs. Hope? You think they will hesitate to furnish that info to anyone who asks? You think anyone doing a background check isn't going to find the same information in about 2 seconds flat (particularly considering that part of a standard background check is a credit check)?

It all worked out in the end, and my wife is zipping around in a shiny new car... but people are going to know. There is no way to be rid of your past identity in this world, and if you ever do manage to sever ALL ties with your previous identity (good luck with that) your lack of a history will pop up a red flag and you should expect to be asked about it.

Now Charlene makes a very salient point - a decent employer won't feel the need to ask... but thinking that they won't know, or won't be able to find out with very little effort is... well... not realistic.

This is who we are. We can't hide it. Trying to hide makes us look guilty, and suspicious. Rather than hiding, why not present it in a way that makes it look like a benefit? Be in control of it, instead of living in fear of it.

[Traci Elizabeth]

Because it simply isn't that easy...

I have all my documents changed, well, most of them, I am still in the process of getting ALL of them changed... I swear to god there is some new identification bureaucracy created every bleeding day. But that is a moot issue here.

I bought a new car a week ago... My drivers license says F, my CC says F, even my SSA file says F, all with my girl name.... but when they ran my credit at the dealer... guess what showed up? Some guy was using MY SS#, and I had 0 credit history, which lead to a 0 score instead of the 803 I used to have...

You think I didn't have to have a talk with the credit people? You think I didn't have to out myself? Not because I didn't have all my documents together, but because whatever credit reporting agency the dealer used didn't have all of THEIR documents together. And don't think that this is going to be a short-term problem either. Sure, eventually my credit score will catch up with me and getting credit will be less of a hassle, and I will no longer have to have "the conversation" but do you really think that Equifax isn't going to keep a record that I changed my name from Mr. Hope to Mrs. Hope? You think they will hesitate to furnish that info to anyone who asks? You think anyone doing a background check isn't going to find the same information in about 2 seconds flat (particularly considering that part of a standard background check is a credit check)?

It all worked out in the end, and my wife is zipping around in a shiny new car... but people are going to know. There is no way to be rid of your past identity in this world, and if you ever do manage to sever ALL ties with your previous identity (good luck with that) your lack of a history will pop up a red flag and you should expect to be asked about it.

Now Charlene makes a very salient point - a decent employer won't feel the need to ask... but thinking that they won't know, or won't be able to find out with very little effort is... well... not realistic.

This is who we are. We can't hide it. Trying to hide makes us look guilty, and suspicious. Rather than hiding, why not present it in a way that makes it look like a benefit? Be in control of it, instead of living in fear of it.



I could not agree with you more as that is exactly what has been happening to me, my credit report has come back with "no history." But applying for credit or seeking employment is NOT an everyday event. Sure at some point that will come up but that does not change my premise that one would feel compelled to defend themselves as Trans.

We spend most if not all of our "pre-gender change" life trying to get to the point that we are no longer our birth assigned sex. So I would rather deal with the rare case as you have described on a -one-to-one bases. How often do we apply for new jobs, how many of us are self-employed, and how often do we apply for credit.

But your point is well taken and something that we will all have to face at one point or another in our lives. And we need to be prepared in how we will handle those situations when they do arise.

[Paula_56]

My current job is working at the cosmetics counter at a department store. I applied for it early in transition (after I lost my previous gig where I was the chief administrator of an organization of over 300 and had a decent salary and health benefits and the respect of people in the community etc...) I still didn't have my name changed, and I was just starting the UGLY stage of transition...

I was very upfront about it and put it right in my cover letter... Of course I did it in such a way as to explain why seemingly "Mr. Guy" wanted to work in the cosmetics department...

But if you can't yet go stealth - if things aren't in order, if you are not 100% passable yet - you have no other choice. You have to be upfront, and say this is who and what I am" And by all means, play it as a benefit to the organization you are applying to in whatever way you can... but you have to let the VERY efficient jerk filter that being trans is, filter out the shitty employers who wouldn't want to hire a tranny. Which unfortunately is most of them. On the other hand if you are applying for a gig with one of the companies listed in the HRC database with a 100 point score... being trans may be a benefit... let affirmative action and inclusive hiring policies give you the boost you need.

I guarantee you - it works. Whenever the company executives come to the store to do a site visit, they ALL know my name, they ALL know exactly who I am, and they all stop by my counter to introduce themselves - and check me out. Which means that when you get your new gig - you have to be at the top of your game. You have to be the best at what you do. Because you are a proxy for the rest of us, and if you look like a schmuck, we all will be judged based on your example. When you get a gig as a trans woman, you owe it to the rest of us to be bad-ass at whatever you do.

You make me proud to be transgendered!!!!

[Hope]

You make me proud to be transgendered!!!!

I'm not sure why - but thanks...