How do I tell my employer and co-workers that I am transgender and going through transition?

If you have a Human Resources department that is where I would start. You should schedule a time to meet and be sure to ask if everything discussed during the meeting will be considered confidential. Be professional and have a letter prepared emphasizing the specifics regarding your transition and your time-line. Your gender therapist should be able to help you with this.

Review your companies anti-discrimination policy/statement most employers do not have anti-discrimination protection for transgender or gender expression and yes you can be fired for this in most states.

If it goes well with HR then have a similar meeting with your boss/immediate supervisor. I would not tell others to avoid gossip or harassment until closer to your "go live" date. The company should be willing to bring in a consultant to help explain what being transsexual is and why you are transitioning as part of your treatment. You can offer to have your gender therapist be available but often times they will want an unbiased party.

Transitioning in a place where you have worked for a while can be tricky at best, if you are a valued employee and you have some sense of tolerance and understanding from the management/administration it is possible, but it won't be easy. Most major companies have some mission statement or value statement. Review it and if includes things like embracing diversity in it's workforce now is the time to call them to practice what they preach.

My last advice is to transition slowly at your pace and do not rush into it it will be easier for you and for your co-workers rather than an all at once approach.

Good Luck

If you have a human resources department or manager, you should speak to them first. If you work for a large corporation, they may already have policies in place to deal with this situation. If it's a smaller company, you should explain the situation to the boss (or your superior depending on the rules) and be prepared to answer any questions that may arise (and you can bet they will.) You should also make sure everything is clear as far as the restroom(s) you'll be using, dress code, how your co-workers will be informed, if and when you will need time off for medical reasons, and so on. Have all the facts ready, so you can show them that this will be a smooth, non-disruptive process.

(Am I hallucinating or did John Heather actually give a Transsexual woman advice that wasn't laced with bigotry!?!?! What's next, peace in the Middle East?)

You first i believe have to speak with your boss regarding whether or not this would in anyway interfere with your job, and just to tell him(her) face to face what is going to happen.

Even though this is of course a personal matter you must try to address it as professionally as possible. Then discuss with your boss what he and you would believe the best way to inform your colleges and co-workers. Maybe a short but concise memo? Or a meeting, if it is a meeting depending on your personality you might or might not want to be present. It all depends on you.

Best of luck in your endeavors and lots of support!

1

Tell your boss, reminding him pleasantly and discreetly that it's against the law to discriminate against you, and let your co-workers catch up as they can, when and if they ask about it, and as much as you wish to tell them. It's nobody's business but your own.

It IS against the law to discriminate against you -- a Presidential Executive Order was issued in June 2014 and it is being enforced by the Department of Justice as of December 2014 that specifically identifies transgender employees of all state positions no matter what they are -- if you work for the state you are covered and any lawyer can validate that statement.

If your company has a FEDERAL or STATE contract you are also covered...discrimination against ANYONE under those contracts -- even if you're a sub-contractor hired by a different company -- is STRICTLY verbotten...

Nearly all major companies and nearly all fortune 50 companies have strict enforcement policies covering -- specifically -- transgender employees. My company even has a long, long, long list of rules prohibiting ANY form of hate speech, either verbal, electronic or social media against -- transgender employees of any color, race or religious affiliation. That means you can't even say that person doesn't the way he or she should and it's been a VERY good thing for transgender females where I work, because they do a great job and I am proud to support their chosen gender in any work environment.

A happy worker is a super performer !!!

These major employers -- specifically -- have policies to include transgender employees and they HEAVILY enforce those rules designed to accommodate them in their work environments, because it's the right thing to do...

Airlines, Transportation, Travel, Aerospace and Automotive

Alaska Airlines According to HRC

American Airlines According to HRC

Chrysler Group According to HRC

Chevron According to HRC

Delta Airlines According to HRC

Ford According to HRC

General Motors According to HRC

Jet Blue According to HRC

Lockheed Martin Co. According to HRC

Northrop Grumman According to HRC

Raytheon Company According to HRC

Headquarters: Waltham, MA

Virgin America Airlines According to HRC

Visteon According to HRC

Technology And Computer Companies

Adobe

Automatic Data Processing, Inc.

Apple Inc. According to HRC

At&T Co.

Applied Materials

BMC Software

Cisco Systems Inc.

Dell Inc.

HP Inc.

IBM

EA (Electronic Arts) According to HRC

EMC

Freescale According to HRC

Google's Diversity Page Google's Diversity Report 2011

Intel According to [1]

Microsoft Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Employees at Microsoft

Honeywell According to HRC

LexisNexis

Oracle

Texas Instruments (TI) According to HRC

Tech Data

Sprint

Sungard Diversity Statement

Xerox Inc.

Fashion and Retail Companies

Levi Strauss According to HRC

Macy's Inc. According to HRC

MAC Cosmetics

Nike Inc. According to HRC

Talbots Inc.

TJX Co According to HRC

Advertising, Marketing, Media and Publishing Companies

Amc Inc. According to HRC

CBSAccording to [2]

Cox Enterprises According to HRC

Interpublic According to HRC

Kodak Inc. According to HRC

McGraw Hill

Time WarnerAccording to HRC

Banks, Finance, Insurance

American Express According to HRC

Bank of America According to HRC

Chubb Corp. According to HRC

Eastern Bank Eastern Bank has received training and technical assistance from MTPC staff.

Greenfield Savings Banks Greenfield Savings Bank has received training and technical assistance from MTPC staff.

Goldman Sacks

The Hartford Financial Services According to HRC

Bank of New York Mellon

Mass Mutual According to [3]

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company According to HRC

Progressive Insurance According to HRC

Prudential Financial According to HRC

Sun Life Financial According to HRC

TD Bank

Wainwright Bank

Spectra Energy

Atmos Energy Diversity Statement

Food, Beverage, and Grocery

Anheuser-Bush According to HRC

Campbell Soup Co.According to HRC

Cargill According to HRC

Coca- Cola

Finale Desserts

General Mills Co.According to HRC

Hershey Co. According to HRC

Land O’Lakes, Inc. According to HRC

MillerCoors According to HRC

PepsiCo According to HRC

Procter & Gamble

Snapple Group

Sodexo Co. According to HRC

Starbucks According to HRC

Supervalue

Aetna According to HRC

Baysate Bayste Health Center

Bausch + Lomb According to HRC

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc.

According to HRC

Faulkner Hospital

Fenway Health

Massachusetts General Hospital

Medtronic According to HRC

Walgreen

Retail

Bed Bath and Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops

Bloomingdales

CVS Pharmacy

Gap Inc. (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperline, Athleta)

KMart

IKEA

Nordstom

Sears

Staples Co. According to HRC

Target

Other

Bain & Company

Ebay According to HRC

Bright Horizons Family Solutions According to HRC

United Parcel Service Inc. According to HRC

Waste Management According to HRC

Ball Co.

by wooping out your new willy and slappin them with it

Thx for the replies, much appreciated.