Jobsworth

[stacis-leak.livejournal.com]

Now here's an appealing concept.

Just a minor idea which came to me. I was thinking about how I'm going to leave this job at the end of today and maybe/maybe not come out to my co workers (and you'll note I didn't say cow orkers) for ease of later getting a reference in my new name. I was thinking about how I'd even perform in a job interview when full time. More nervous? Less nervous (Cathy has noted many times that I seem quite out of sorts in guy mode whereas out of guy mode I am calmer and more confident)?

Would my success as an applicant rely on my ability to pass? Would it rely on my inability to pass (these places have diversity quotas to fill)?

Would my voice keep me out of telemarketing jobs?

Would companies shun me because of the nagative PR?

It occurred that this is a lot to have going through ones head in a first interview having gone fulltime. Such fears and doubts in a first time situation are likely to disrupt the smooth running of an interview process.

I don't want my first interview in fulltime to be a really really important one.

And then it hit me like a flash of lightning.

So long as I'm unemployed, and with my parental gatekeepers gone for a fortnight, there's nothing really stopping me from applying for a few jobs as Stacy. I can send in my CV, turn up for interviews, all purely to test the water. The worst that can happen is that I don't get the job.

The only question would be: Is it legal to apply for employment under an alias?

By which I mean if I am successfull in en-femme job hunting, would it cause problems when I have to fess up about Stacy not being my legal name yet?

Any legal experts reading?

All inclusive?

[stacis-leak.livejournal.com]

so as many of you will undoubtably know I'm thinking of starting a small local trans support group with the help of a friend.

Already I've head a little interest in replies and one person has co-friended me but hasn't actually got in touch yet, despite living in Sheffield.

I've been having a think about the sorts of issues which may arise, and I was given a link to the FTM Compass which is a highly successful group and could present a nice model on which to to base the meetings I'm thinking about.

One thing I especially liked about this website was it's open interpretation of transsexual, announcing the group to welcome anyone who considers an imposed female genrder role to be incorrect. That includes (as far as I can tell) Fully transitioned and pre-transitioned FTM transsexuals, those with a more androgenous outlook and... I hate this word... seriosuly, is there a less derogatory sounding word which means the same thing as "Dyke" in a lesbian context?

When thinking how to apply such an open terminology to my own gatherings I realised that I might open it up too much for some members to feel comfortable.

I would generally declare that an all inclusive transgender support group would be open to anyone who feels the gender they were assigned at birth does not properly convey their true identity.

Big words for a small timer like me.

The difference between the FTM and MTF distinction of transsexualism is the absense of FTM transvestites.

Women who wear mens clothes are not ostracised or even considered to be different. I cant think many would specifically wear mens clothes for a sexual kick or that anyone would get a perverse get a sexual kick out of seeing women in mens clothes.

But there are men who don't identify as trans and simply dress as women for libidinous reasons. I'm not saying all transvestites are perverted, but I'm sure that if you were in a group of people who shared any interest, knitting for example, and you knew that a few members of the group were really reallt turned on by the feel of the wool and the clack of the needles, you'd feel at least mildly uncomfortable.

Of course not all crossdressers DO get a sexual charge out of it, many people crossdress to feel normal, which would, in my mind at least, be a good genuine reason to want to go to a support group for the transgendered.

I do know that there's a bone of contention between the TV and TS community, I must admit I have my own personal prejudices about crossdressing, on some level I feel it takes a little bit of ligitimacy away from those who just wish to transition and get on with thier lives yet often get labelled and lumped in with the "On weekends my name is Delicia" crowd.

But I'd really like to believe that prejudices can be overcome and that includes my own. For the context of a group gathering I'd like the turn out to be as high as possible (my ego playing up again) which means a delicate balance between accepting as many areas on the gender spectrum as possible, whilst keeping it exclusive enough that people actually see a point in coming.

With that in mind, if people (even on the other side of the world with no intention of coming to my tiny little Sheffield gathering) could answer the following questions it'd help me throw an official policy together:

1) Would you like go to a regular meeting of transfolk for discussion, support, social networking and such?

2) How would you feel about such a meeting if attendance was mixed (as in FTM and MTF in the same place).

3) How would you feel about such a meeting if it was attended by transvestites (to clarify I'll define that as people who identify as the opposite gender on a temporary basis when they feel like it)

4) How would you feel about attendees using the meeting as a platform for dating or romantic liason?

5) Any other thoughts?

ADDITIONAL QUESTION:

6) How would you feel about folk turning up dressed/acting as their birth gender rather than their true identity, if for whateve reason they couldn't express their gender identity in public yet?

ANOTHER ADDITIONAL QUESTION:

7) Do you think gatherings for the trans community should welcome non-trans participants, such as friends or family invited by other attendees?

I know I have posted to this community a lot lately and I don't want to get a reputation for spamming it out but I'd really like to get a good idea of what other transfolk want out of social gatherings in order to make this one a success, instead of just looking at what I think should be included.

Email to my Boss

[stacis-leak.livejournal.com]

With stealthy **censored** bits cut out.


Subject: On leaving and References

Hi **Boss**.
I'm writing this in my last hour in the office. You won't get it till Monday though, due to your sudden departure. **Reference to event in office**.

I had actually wanted to have a brief word with you before leaving for good, hence my eagerness for an exit interview. Since that didn't arise however, I'll have to tell you like this. I'd have emailed you at a later date about this but chances are you wouldn't actually believe it unless it came from a trusted source. I figured the work email address counted as a trusted source.

You might have figured this out already from the list of websites I looked at which over time got picked off by the content filter one by one.

Although I haven't lied to you at all about my days off to visit doctors, I omitted one detail about the nature of some of them. As well as my congenital heart disease I am currently in the process of obtaining treatment for what is known in the medical community as gender dysphoria. To use the more common term you'll have heard from television, I'm transsexual, and currently seeking treament to have my physical gender reassigned to that of a woman.

This isn't relevant at all to the work I did at --**Comapny**-- but I think it's best to let you know now that at some point in the future I'll be having my name and status officially changed and as such if I'm still using you as a reference on my CV, you ought to know that the requests won't always be arriving for "**Full Male Name**".

I'm not sure how long it will take to get the legal side of things cleared up but it could be anything between a few months or a year or so before I start using my new name in an official capacity. When the time comes however, you will get references asking about a woman named "Stacy Gwen Smith" instead.

When this time comes I'd be very pleased if you could continue to respond with a reference for me, albeit with the name and gender specific pronouns updated (she instead of he, etc).

If you find this confusing or would like to know more (sadly the mass populace lacks understanding of gender reassignment - I blame the media) feel free to keep in touch. The best email to contact me on is **Stacy@Email**

I'll answer absolutely any questions you have, to help you grasp the concept of what I'm asking. Also you can call me on my mobile **Phonenumber** if you want to confirm anything I've written here over the phone.

Now that I've said all that, it's been an absolute pleasure working with you and I hope that if you need to roll out a new system again in a few years (or if you're looking for someone to write that intranet you're always talking about) you will give me a nudge.

**In joke about one of the companies we work with getting a patch out to us soon**

- AFKA **Boyname**


Good message? I already sent it so it's too late to turn back now, but I'm totally rushing and wanting to know how much I just made my life easier/harder come transition time...

Writing as a way of dealing with gender issues

[jennyemily.livejournal.com]

Transgendered authers seem to be fairly few in number. Or alternatively, I suspect that the truth is closer to the fact that many transgendered authors not writing on the subject of gender probably don't really want people reading to know about whether they are transgendered or not. I can think of a few specialist textbook type books about gender identity, but not really any other authors.

I recently published, through Lulu, four books. It struck me as I was formatting one of them that I wrote it back when I was really struggling with my own gender identity, and looking back it rather shows. Something that I never made a huge thing about at the time was the fact that one of the central charectors is transgendered. I remember writing the book and channeling some of the things that were bothering me into that charector. It isn't something that is in-your-face in the book, but it is there nonetheless.

I had a sequel too, which I put up, and I realised that whilst this charector was still in the book, my writing style had changed, and perhaps I had offloaded in obscure ways all the thoughts that had been bothering me. Consequently the transgender stuff is put to the back and isn't made an issue of.

I enjoyed writing them, and they served their purpose. In writing them then I realise that I was to some extent creating a World which I could put a charector into that reflected me, how I felt, and to a little extent was doing the things that I had not at the time had the courage to do. That charector had transitioned, and was going through the struggle of dealing with life, as a background behind the main plot. It isn't a tale of trans angst by any stretch.

I used to find writing a great release. I used to write a lot, and I think it had a lot to do with clearing my head of some of the thoughts. From 1995 through until 2004 I had a huge output, coinciding with the big turmoil of trying to cope with my gender issues. Very little of what I wrote was to do with gender issues though, and I just found the writing a good destraction where I could create and populate Worlds that worked in a manner I felt more comfortable with. When I wrote my very last book, it was on the cusp of finally reaching the point that I was facing up to my gender issues. I transitioned not long afterwards, and with transition I found the need to write abated. I've kept a detailed transition diary, but aside from that I have wrote less than 1000 words of fiction.

Writing is something that I would recommend to anyone, whether they are transgendered or not. It is a wonderful tool to get thoughts and ideas out and organise them. It's like a conscious form of dreaming. It's probably also, as Terry Pratchett once said, the most fun anyone can have on their own. I quite agree.

( information on the books )

Crossposted