Education Opportunity

[Stephanie-L]

I work in the health care industry and yesterday one of my co-workers had the occasion to deal with a MTF transexual person. I think she was pre-op though she was registered under her femme name. My friend was a bit at a loss as to how to deal with this person,(BTW, the hospital visit was not related to any transexual reasons such as SRS, etc). During the conversation in the break room, I tried to subtly get across some things such as refering to the person in the proper gender terms, difference between gay, TG, CD, etc. As I am not "out" at work, I had to be careful with this, though I think I would not have too nuch problem if I was out. Most but definatly not all of my co-workers seem to be very accepting about "alternative" life styles. Any thoughts on what else I could have done? This is not the first time I have dealt with TS/TG people in my job, thogh this is the first time at my current place of employment........Stephanie

[Veryvicky]

I am no expert as I am not out totally where I work either. By what you said about it I think you handled it well. Being subtle yet informative enforces how they may treat someone, for example if you would have said "well I couldnt deal with someone like that." the information and motivation to your friend would have been negative and may have came out that way in the future. I think that you conveyed a professional atmosphere where anyone could feel comfortable as to how they are treated while they are there. Just wish that the whole world could accept you for who you are instead of how they want you to be. Not sure if that helped much but I think you did well.

[Stephenie S]

I am not really "out" at work, but I do work as Stephenie. I just aplied for, and got the job, as Stephenie. HR knows, but has no problem. Other than that, I have not discussed this with anyone else on the job.

None the less, I still have the occasional situation with co-workers and patients. I just deal with it as I imagine any other woman would. Whe I hear a "he" in reference to me, I just firmly and quickly correct the person. When a patient says thank you sir, I just say, "It's not sir, it's ma'am". With co-workers who should know better I often just raise an eyebrow, brace my hand on my hip, and say, "EXCUSE me?" Everyone who has made this mistake is immediately appologetic. I think that due to my hight, lack of hips and butt, and my voice (which sucks), some misunderstanding is inevitable. I also think that maintaining a sense of humor about it is important. No one has ANY problem with my name, it's just that the occasional "he" or "him" slips out.

In general, I believe that most people will accept you for who you believe yourself to be. If you know in your heart that you are a woman, it has to come out that way.

Lovies,
Stephenie