Coming Out to Long-Term Friends

[Eryn]

I'm now living a full-time life, so Most of my friends and colleagues are in the loop. However, there always seems to be a few more to bring in.

I recently went to an annual automotive get-together about 300 miles from home. I am not in regular communication with the people I know there, so I decided to just show up and see what would happen. Just to raise the anxiety level, the event was not in a trans-friendly state.

The grapevine had let some of my friends know of my transition. Others didn't, but seemed to take it in stride. My male name and pronouns were occasionally used, but I'm not overly touchy about that. Overall, it was a very fun weekend!
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Kate, I can see your point, but this situation was properly handled in the same manner as any other "teacher change" request. The school policy is that students may choose classes, but their schedules (and therefore teacher assignment) are determined to make best use of school resources. Students may request changes only due to a limited list of valid reasons such as duplicate classes. Students still try to "shop for teachers," usually saying things like "This teacher doesn't match my learning style" or somesuch. My situation has just given them another thing to try, but the result was the same. My administrator was of the mind that they simply wanted to switch to the other teacher who is perceived as being easier.

My philosophy, and that of my administration throughout this entire process has been that my transition is a normal occurrence. In my classes I've mentioned being trans exactly once, to dispel rumors on the first day of class. I have spoken about trans issues to student groups, but only those who wanted to be constructively educated. In class I teach my subject and my gender is not a factor.

These students have been in my class for a semester without causing disruption. I doubt that they will cause any in the spring. Male or female, I am a veteran teacher and pretty good at maintaining classroom discipline. I'm not terribly worried.