Help! Hormone weirdness

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

Hi all. As I write this, my endocrine system appears to be freaking out. A little background - MTF taking Progynova orally, 2mg tablets, 3 times a day, plus 2 applications of oestrogel. No antiandrogen yet, 1 month on hormones. Very pleased with the feminising effects so far - I appear to be reacting very strongly to them, and already have noticeable fat redistribution and breast growth.

On Saturday I became very depressed. This has since passed, but today how I'm feeling seems to change every 15 minutes. An hour ago I was euphoric, shortly after I was feeling quite miserable, now I'm not sure, but I feel very warm.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I'm assuming that this is basically the effects of the testosterone and oestrogen fighting each other. I was beginning to think that the roller-coaster had smoothed out a bit, but this is hitting me quite hard. I'm not seeing my specialist again until the end of March, when we might look at introducing an antiandrogen. I'm hoping that I'm not going to feel like this until then. Help?

(no subject)

[timireznor.livejournal.com]

( Ken Russell's portraits of 1950s UK  )

I've never seen these photos before, but it's interesting for the butch "drag king" elements, which seems pretty daring for the era.

Also, the photos are by genius gonzo director Ken Russell!

A job interview, and a fright

[mistwolf.livejournal.com]

So, I have a job interview tommorow. Still unsure about the job itself, it's very entry level. Pays AU$30k/year, which isn't brilliant, but might give me SRS in 2 years or so. If I hold off, I might get something higher... But I might not. The downside is that they want a firm 12 month contract signed. :/

The fright? As I am going through a recruiting agency, they need proof that it is legal for me to work. There is only one thing I can show for this - my passport with my permanant resident visa. Which, of course, clearly states that I am legally male. Which isn't a BIG deal, that's easy enough to overlook... Except the picture. I won't even describe it, I will just show:



Not very feminine, is it? It didn't sink in that I had to show this tommorow until about 10 minutes after the call, and when it did, I pretty much started to panic. Then I calmed down, thought about things, talked to some friends, then ignored them and sent the recruiter an email explaining my situation:


Good afternoon, Recruiter,

There is something I would like to bring up before I come in, and I admit to not being 100% sure how to do it. I think it is better to do so now, than have it come up down the line. The situation is that I am a diagnosed transgendered person, who is in the process of transitioning from male to female. At the stage I am at now, this means that while I present and dress as female, my identification and documentation reflect as male. The main reason I bring this up is that my passport, which contains my permanent residency visa, is very, very different photographically than who I am today, and I don't want this to be a surprise to you.

I hope this does not affect my chances in regards to this position, but I feel that it is important to be up-front about this, in fairness to you and your time, as well as to myself. This is not generally common knowledge about me, and I do hope I can trust in your discretion about it.

I hope this makes sense. Please do let me know if you feel this will cause any problems. Thank you very much for your time, and I am sorry for any trouble.


I sent this, then dashed out the door, a half hour late leaving to pick up my kids and mate, and on movie night no less! I spent most of the hour and a half of driving, getting movies, getting dinner, and coming home worried about this. And sure enough, when I got home she had replied. It took a good 5 minutes to open it, and even then, my mate read it first:


Hi Jamie,
I certainly have no concerns. This is not an issue for myself or my clients as I have placed candidates in the past in your same situation. We will be conducting a group session at 1.30, to start a presentation on the role and what it is all about, then you will be required to sit a computer based customer service assessment with a one on one interview afterwards. There are 8 positions available. Look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.
Regards


Not at all what I expected, and I am so, so much more comfortable now. I am glad I mailed!

More updates on the work front...

[ottermama.livejournal.com]

...and more cross posting.





So yes, today I had to go in for follow up training at corporate HQ downtown, which was kinda boring but not bad over all, so not much to tell on that front... but guess what I got to do while I was down there? Go on, guess?

During one of our breaks and during the second half of our lunch break, I got snagged by the head of HR for the company. Yes, the same one who I mentioned in my last 2 posts. She pulled me into her office and asked me if anything bad had happened to me at work and if I had been "talking in code" on the phone due to people possibly listening in. After about 10 minutes of convincing her that wasn't the issue, we finally got down to brass tacks. We talked briefly about discrimination in the work place and many of the things she said put me at ease enough to give her some ammo to do more research with.

I told her I was intersexed and asked if she knew what that meant. She didn't, so I gave her a *very* truncated definition of it, and told her that I hide/wear clothes that hide or bind my chest or press it flat, and was trying to learn more about the company's policy regarding things like that, and she looked at me rather empathetically though semi perplexed, and then the perplexion (is that a word?) went away and the empathy remained throughout the rest of: "As far as gender identity and physical conditions like yours go, ALL of that is covered under the umbrella that the company uses for EOE, and if anything like that ever happens, you let me know immediately and I will absolutely drop everything I am doing and get on the front lines for you!" More so, she is going to have the legal department get me even more detailed information about all of this without telling them about me specifically, keeping with the confidentiality of our convo, and send it to me all confidential like, and told me that she's had to deal with gender identity stuff before on a limited basis, but that the cards were pretty much in my favour not only at work but as she understood it, according to local state laws as well.

W.O.W.

That was not what I expected to hear, but OMG am I glad I did hear it! My HR lady rocks! So far (aside from the fact that it's a bank) this job just gets better and better. Having talked with her, I'm no longer worried about wearing actual supportive bras to work or worried if they show through on occasion. Having corporate HR on my side is a good feeling. ^^

Volunteers needed for Trans Events Committee Prom in NYC

[cd332.livejournal.com]

Hello, if any of you are in the New York City Area, and would like to help out by volunteering for the Trans Events Committee, below is the official blip. If you were on this LJ-Community last year, you will remember that we successfully planned the first Trans-Prom ever at the Center in West Greenwich Village, NYC. There is one scheduled in April this year, and we hope to make it an even bigger success. I am a member and can vouch that the meetings are light, drama-free, and none too taxing. We will need all the help we can get on the day of the prom though, so please don't hesitate to consider helping out. We are also trying to get interested parties to donate food, decorations, any additional hands.

Help make a difference for your community AND pave the way for the
next generation of transfolk.

Thanks! ;-)

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Trans-Events Committee (TEC)

(1st Wednesday of each month: March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7, 6-7:30pm)

Recognizing the emerging needs and presence of transgender, gender-different and gender questioning people at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, the Gender Identity Project (GIP) is pleased to provide another opportunity for community participation and leadership.

We are currently searching for committed volunteers, representing the vast diversity of the trans-communities, to organize, plan and produce events of relevance to the our communities. This ongoing, Trans-Events Committee, takes a central role in the event planning process and works directly with the GIP, outside organizations and other Center programs.

A selection of events, both recent and upcoming includes:

Trans-Prom, Trans-Rights in New York City: A New Era, GenderTech, Trans-Coffeehouse, Trans-Homelessness Forum, Transgender Victories & Prospects, Intersex Awareness Forum, Trans-Parents Forum, Trans-Partners Forum, Trans-Families Forum

For further information about the TEC, contact Dan Whitman, Volunteer Manager, at 212.620.7310, x 274 or by e-mail at dwhitman@gaycenter.org

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