ReneeT
05-30-2012, 12:27 PM
Note to the mods: this thread is about the conference, not necessarily my experience - thats why i posted here rather than in "out and about". Thanks
The largest trans health conference in the world is taking place tomorrow thru Saturday in Philadelphia. *I am fortunate enough to be attending, doubly so since m company is actually picking up the tab for three of us to attend! *Our corporate HR department established colleague resource groups last year, one of which is an LGBT group. *So far we have almost 300 participants, in a company with 30,000 employees. Thats 1%! *we have sub commitees within this CRG, and at my request, we included a transgender committee. *I co chair it with a co worker from another office, whom i had not met prior to this. *We now have 11 committee members, and a very aggressive agenda (including trans health benefit parity!). Our attendance at the conference this week is part of our committee work.
So i set off this morning from the Deep South, presenting in my identified gender, of course. *In fact, there isnt a scrap of male apparel in my suitcase. *This will be the first timei have metany of my co workers en femme, although all the committee members and several key HR people know my story. *Thingsgot off to a terrific start, with the 8 am robo call from Delta telling me that my first flight was cancelled. *After a bit of a scramble i was rescheduled, just an hour later. *I fly out of a little airport, almost always en femme, and the ticket, gate, and TSA agents all know me. The twist this time was that the xray scannershowed an "abnormality" in my groin. *If they had asked I would have told them all about that abnormality! *This, of course, led to further scrutiny, consisting of a private screening by female screeners. *I have to admit tht it was a bit humiliating, but the screeners were very nice, *After they were comfortable that my "abnormality" posed no danger to others, they sent me on my way. *With any kind of luck it will be smooth sailing from here. *I will post updates as the conference progresses
The largest trans health conference in the world is taking place tomorrow thru Saturday in Philadelphia. *I am fortunate enough to be attending, doubly so since m company is actually picking up the tab for three of us to attend! *Our corporate HR department established colleague resource groups last year, one of which is an LGBT group. *So far we have almost 300 participants, in a company with 30,000 employees. Thats 1%! *we have sub commitees within this CRG, and at my request, we included a transgender committee. *I co chair it with a co worker from another office, whom i had not met prior to this. *We now have 11 committee members, and a very aggressive agenda (including trans health benefit parity!). Our attendance at the conference this week is part of our committee work.
So i set off this morning from the Deep South, presenting in my identified gender, of course. *In fact, there isnt a scrap of male apparel in my suitcase. *This will be the first timei have metany of my co workers en femme, although all the committee members and several key HR people know my story. *Thingsgot off to a terrific start, with the 8 am robo call from Delta telling me that my first flight was cancelled. *After a bit of a scramble i was rescheduled, just an hour later. *I fly out of a little airport, almost always en femme, and the ticket, gate, and TSA agents all know me. The twist this time was that the xray scannershowed an "abnormality" in my groin. *If they had asked I would have told them all about that abnormality! *This, of course, led to further scrutiny, consisting of a private screening by female screeners. *I have to admit tht it was a bit humiliating, but the screeners were very nice, *After they were comfortable that my "abnormality" posed no danger to others, they sent me on my way. *With any kind of luck it will be smooth sailing from here. *I will post updates as the conference progresses