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TransitioningAtWork | LetterToWork

Draft 3 Of My Letter To Work

Dear Friends And Colleagues,

I am writing this to bring you up to date and to make clear what my immediate future holds. Over the past year,I have been doing a lot of personal work with some wonderful people. I now feel quite healthy and well.

I have some news that I must share with you all.

The difficulty in sharing this news is that it deals with a topic that is beyond most people's experience, and what little most people know has been colored by media and religion. I suffer from a lifelong medical condition called Gender Identity Disorder (GID), which is commonly referred to as transsexualism. What is, for most people, such a bedrock core given of their identity, is not so for me. You have probably heard of people who feel "they are a woman trapped in a man's body". While this is not precisely true for me, it is close enough that it will suffice for the moment.

In the past few months, I have begun a process of transformation, from the male you know as OLD NAME, to a female, whom you will know as NEW NAME. I write this letter to announce that I will be starting a significant stage of this transition from male to female: the "Real-Life Test". This is a period of time when I live full-time in the assumed gender role and begin to be comfortable with the changes and adjustments that involves. My intention is on June 1st of this year, to start coming to work in my new identity, NEW FULL NAME. I will appreciate all efforts you can make to accommodate me, including using my new name, and referring to me as a woman, as we graciously accept the expected slips and adjustments.

I know this news will affect you, my friends and co-workers, as well. My transition might be difficult for a few of you, while, for others, it might just be a cakewalk. I wish to reassure you all that I do respect your true feelings, as you respect and honor mine, and that we will work through this. I am not pursuing this on a whim, but after much careful consideration with two therapists and the counsel of other people who have made this same type of transition. Gender Identity Disorder is a life-long condition, some consider it a congenital birth defect. What I know, the pain of living as I was, a born male, but with the identity of self as a woman, and the consequent incongruities that brings about, are too great. The alternatives to pursuing this are clear to me: depression, leading to virtual, or actual suicide. Once I woke up to myself, I could not go back to sleep.

The specifics of this transition, as planned so far, are to:

  • have a period for discussion and getting used to the change
  • a break for me from work, and then
  • my return to work on June 1st.

It is important to me that you be provided time to ask questions and to think about what this means for you in a way that is safe for both you and me. I encourage each of you to talk this over with your SUPERVISORS, and to read some of the material I have furnished on my web site and in the DEPARTMENT library.

The best thing people can do is to become educated. There are a wealth of on-line resources if you wish to delve more into this area. During the interim period of this announcement to my starting full-time living, I will be around to answer questions, and certainly welcome your words of support. I am quite open to talking about certain aspects of the transition, the condition of GID, gender dysphoria, and so on.

I will be taking a two-week vacation just prior to June 1st after which time I will come back to work as NEW NAME.

As I have struggled with this, I have come to appreciate more fully the sort of environment we have created in DEPARTMENT that gives the space and encouragement for this to take place. I hold you all quite dear in my heart, and I know that we will be able to work together in the future at least as well as we have in the past.

My very best regards,

OLD NAME

Categories: Transition, Work

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Page last modified on May 17, 2010, at 07:06 PM