Guest post – Caelan (my spouse!)

Posted: September 28, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, name change, Testosterone, top surgery | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

So I’ve been blogging for a while now, and I haven’t said a whole lot about my spouse, basically out of respect for their privacy.  But they actually have a lot to say!  Here’s just a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes:

Over the last 6 years that Kameron has been recording his gender transition journey, I have always appeared in his writing as the supportive spouse. That’s a role I have been happy to fill. Happy to be part of a couple t hat goes against the standard narrative of couples perceived as “same-sex” who split when one comes out as transmasculine/trans male. I never felt that Kameron’s transition challenged my sexual orientation—I am that rare non-binary unicorn who discovers their identity all at once, albeit belatedly. I never thought I was a lesbian, if anything other people read me as asexual. As I came into my own queer sexuality and genderqueer identity, I was falling for a pansexual gender non-conforming guy (I have no idea how he would define himself, this is how I experienced him). I embraced the po-mo complexity of my attraction to his particular queer blend of femininity and masculinity.

For me, being genderqueer gave me permission to play with my gender presentation. I had fun thrifting to build a wardrobe that reflected the spectrum of my gender expression—t-shirts from the boys section, day-glo green femme sweaters, bright blue doc marten boots, mini-skirts, baggy pants and flannel shirts. I felt more confident taking up space, and attracting the attention of other gender non-conforming queer people. But once I found myself romantically involved with someone (before Kameron), my partner assumed that I was “the more feminine one.” I felt pressured to present more femininely to heighten their tenuous, new expression of masculinity.

Now when I look back at the past 13 years of my life, I question whether I presented femininely because I internalized that pressure and carried it forward into my relationship with Kameron. Was this shift an unconscious assimilation to ease moving through the world? Or did I truly want to grow my hair out, wear skirts/dresses, and feel included in feminist spaces?! What a mindfuck! Being genderfluid makes life hella complicated. I have identified as a genderqueer femme, but that feels too limiting now. My gender expression has shifted again in the last 3 years toward a more masculine presentation. I feel more comfortable with how others see me now but I am sure that I am still perceived as a queer woman. The pendulum has simply swayed from femme to butch.

While Kameron’s transition didn’t threaten my sexual orientation, I did find myself at times feeling like I was getting left behind. I started to have strange pangs of jealousy—I had a much larger chest and have felt dysphoric about it since it first developed, but I wasn’t the one getting top surgery. I was the one sitting in a waiting room and I was the one keeping track of how much blood was accumulating in his drains, taking time off to help him with early recovery. Where were these ugly resentments coming from? I was so dissociated from my feelings and my body that it took years of watching Kameron’s transition unfold for me to start exploring my gender identity more.

It’s funny that we didn’t talk much about our gender identities with each other, I cocooned myself a bit and started parsing out what felt good and what didn’t. “She” was icky, so I asked Kameron, some close friends & family members, and co-workers to start using “they/them/theirs” for me. Ah, a sigh of relief. Then more discomfort would surface, I couldn’t wear bras anymore, not even sports bras. I threw them all away and got advice from Kameron

on various binder options. Another sigh of relief. Then a sudden surge of agitation when a friend starting dating someone with my given name. I had already been obsessively browsing Celtic baby name websites but now I felt an urgency to rename myself. Overall, I feel more comfortable with my gender now, but it still doesn’t feel like enough. I have started low-dose testosterone (shout out to Planned Parenthood for using an informed consent model) and am scheduling a top surgery consult soon. I am hoping that these steps will help alleviate my dysphoria, as it feels ever present now that I have stopped compartmentalizing it. These flooding feelings has been difficult to manage, and I’m currently battling a flare up of past restrictive eating habits.

For the longest time I couldn’t bear the attention of physically and socially transitioning. And I didn’t feel trans enough. I questioned why I had to do the emotional labor of explicitly coming out to be seen as non-binary. This has been an ongoing test of my tolerance for vulnerability. I need to be my authentic self for me, but the acknowledgement of others is overwhelming. I am a private person, I don’t have a blog, I keep a written journal. I guard my inner world with ferociousness and have a hard time trusting others. So far most people have been supportive and reached out to let me know so, but others have quietly noted signifiers (like changing my name on social media accounts) without comment. While the attention is exhausting (mostly due to my anxiety in these interactions), the silence of others is more painful. These silences have spurred me to have more in-depth conversations with those who do reach out, to push shame away and invite friends in.

The custodial door

Posted: February 27, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, Janitorial work, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Here it is, finally!  Photographic proof that my name plate finally arrived the way I want it, after many delays and a mix-up.  If you want to read about the backstory, here are two past posts:

From December:  The “Mx.” got way delayed

From last January:  I came out at work, cont’d

The short version is that I asked for the Mx. a year and 3 months ago, following my legal name change.  A full year passed before anything happened, and it came through as Kameron [last name], which was not what I wanted.  So I talked to the principal again, and luckily, she was pliable.  A month ago, I saw a name plate in the admin. assistant’s trash (only because I empty her trash), that said, Ms. [last name].  Meaning, that Staples messed it up even though it got submitted the way I wanted it.  Another week passed (during which time I was wondering if I’d have to check back in with the admin. assistant or not.  Glad I just waited.) and, finally, there it was, on the custodial door.

!!!!!

The “Mx.” got way delayed

Posted: December 14, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, Janitorial work, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I have not come up against very much resistance or ugliness as I’ve come out, in stages, in different ways, over the span of like 18 years.  I’ve been called rude things out car windows.  I’ve had uncomfortable and disconcerting medical appointments.  I’ve faced silence-as-acceptance(?) from certain family members.  I’m still dealing with people not grasping the right pronoun, or referring to my spouse as my “friend.”  But these things have been few and far between, and although they do add up, they don’t feel terribly crushing.  Most of the hardest feelings have come from within, and not outside forces.

Two weeks ago though, something came up that was deliberate, that would affect me long term, and that I can’t just let go.  It’s my name plate at work.

I’ve worked at this school for over 10 years, and I’ve struggled to find my place within the rest of the staff.  As a default, I’ve been distant and out-of-the-loop for the most part.  It took me 6 years to get a name on the custodial door at all, and that only happened when a new person started and he got his name on the door.  Then it was suddenly, hey, wait a minute!  I had been fine without one, or so I told myself, because I’d rather not have one at all than be a “Miss” or a “Ms.” or later a “Mrs.” or even a “Mr.”  All of those feel cringe-worthy and totally wrong for me.  So when I was actually asked, and I said, “KT [last name]” and that was accepted, I was thrilled.  That was the name I went by.  It felt right.  At the time.

And then it didn’t.  I came out at work last December.  Holy what, that was a year ago!  Part of this included talking to the principal about my name and pronoun change.  I also made it clear that I was not transitioning to male, exactly, and I’d like it to be known I identify as in the middle or as a little bit of both genders.  She replied that that distinction was not necessary, and that was more of a private thing.  PS- It isn’t.  It’s my identity.  Instead of deciding I needed to clarify in that moment though, I attempted to grasp onto other compromises and specifics.  So that, when she asked me about my name on the custodial door, it was immediately a no-brainer.  “Mx. [last name].”  It’s another option, I said.  It is in use.  It’s a thing, I tried to assure her.  I said, “If this is representing my name, then I don’t feel compelled to spell out [in a coming out email she was going to be sending on my behalf] how I am neither gender.  The title will speak for itself, and people can ask me if they want.”  The principal nodded.  It felt very much like we had agreed on this.  She had told me that it could say whatever I wanted although she would like there to be some uniformity with everyone else’s.  Mx. seemed perfect.  I assumed there was follow-through on this.

As the months went by and I still didn’t have a name on the door (my supervisor had ripped off my old one), I wondered what was a reasonable amount of time to wait before asking what’s going on?  But then I was out of work in May for mental health reasons.  And then it was summer, and stuff like that doesn’t get done over the summer.  I again had a new co-worker.  I decided I would just ride in on his coat-tails.  It would be easier, and that was the route I preferred to take at that time.  And sure enough, within the first couple of weeks of school starting back up in September, he got his name on the custodial door.  And I still didn’t.  It was Mr. [last name].  I went to the administrative assistant that day and asked about my name.  She apologized for not adding mine to the order, and she said she’d order it right then and there.  I gave her a piece of paper where I had written it out, so there’d be no confusion:  Mx. [last name].

It took 2 months, but it finally came in 2 weeks ago, but it was all wrong.  I checked the custodial mail slot like I do most days, and I was appalled to see two new name plates:  one for me and one for my co-worker – both of them were our first and last names.  No titles at all.  My ears turned red, my pulse quickened.  I paced around a little, trying to move forward with my work while processing this.  The principal was still in her office, adjacent to the hall where these mail slots are.  I started to gear up to approach her, but then I hesitated, thinking I should wait until I’m more levelheaded.  I didn’t get a chance to decide because right in that moment, she left.

My first, more general thought was that this is disrespectful in a classist sense.  Why should ours be the only names that don’t have a title with them.  Other thoughts spiraled out from there, most prominently, “I don’t want to have to deal with this!”

When the name got put on the door, I told my co-worker that’s not what I wanted.  (He failed to change out his name plate, so mine was the only one with a first name).  I then told the administrative assistant, and she said this was the principal’s decision.  Which I already figured; I just didn’t want to talk to her!  For 5 days in a row, I gathered myself to go talk to her, only to be met with her on her way out the door right in that moment.  So finally when passing her in the hall on the 6th day, I asked, “Can I talk to you before you leave today?”

That worked!  I talked to her and it was no big deal on her end.  I wrote out what I wanted, for a third time, and she said it’d be ordered the following day.  Which was yesterday.  We’ll see how long it takes this time around; at this point it’s been over a year!

World mental health day / Nat’l coming out day 2017

Posted: October 12, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, mental health, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

These days occur consecutively every year – October 10th and 11th.  It’s a good chance to kind of look back and take stock.  And to see where I was at; here’s what I wrote last year:
World mental health day / Nat’l coming out day 2016

Before talking about this year, I just want to note that last year I said,  “I’d say within the next 6 months I’ll be out at work and everywhere else.  I look forward to the day that my driver’s license, signature, little plastic rectangle on the custodial office, Facebook page, the words out of teachers’ and co-workers’ mouths, and everything else, all say the same thing!”  I’ve reached that point!!!  Well, everything except that little plastic rectangle, but that is in-process (see below)!

This past year in my mental health landscape:  I thought I was stable in a way that couldn’t be rocked, but actually I ended up back in the hospital again with another manic / psychotic episode.  I know my loved ones went through a lot of stress and strife, but, in comparison to past episodes, this felt like a breeze, and it even felt healing in many ways.  I do want to try to write about this, but I’m not quite there yet.  Hopefully soon.  I spent two months out of work, I got raised to triple my prior dose of Seroquel (a drug I continue to like a lot – a first for me), and now I’m down to double my prior dose.  I’m off of any antidepressants right now.  I’m worried I will lapse into another depression, but so far, so good.  I’m starting to finally address the issues I’m having with oversleeping.  But, to be honest, if oversleeping is the worst thing to come out of being in a really good place mentally otherwise, then so be it, I guess…  For now at least.

In terms of National Coming Out Day, coming out is happening all the time, and I’m glad to be in a place where I’m neither invisible nor fearful of having to come out again and again and again.  I love every opportunity.  Take yesterday for example:  I didn’t realize it was National Coming Out Day until that night when I went on facebook after work.  And during that day, I had two instances of coming out.  While I was working in the cafeteria during lunch, a kid asked me, “Are you a boy?”  I replied, “I’m neither.  I’m a little bit of both.”  He replied, “Really?!”  And I said, “Yeah!”  I had a big smile on my face.  Then later in the afternoon, I realized that my new boss(?) got his plastic rectangle with his name “engraved” and it was now on the custodial door, and I’ve been waiting for mine since January, when I changed my name.  So instead of getting worked up about that, I just wrote down on a piece of paper what I wanted (so there’d be no confusion) and explained to the administrative assistant that Mr. [last name] has his on the door and I’ve been waiting for mine.  She apologized for forgetting to include mine in the order, and said she would go ahead and order mine.  I gave her the paper:  It said, “Mx. [last name].”  She verbalized that back to me to make sure it was right, and I said, “Yep.”  I should have that up hopefully within a couple of weeks, finally.  This feels like such a victory!

There’s one other thing I want to mention regarding mental health:  I started listening exclusively to a new-to-me podcast.  By this, I mean, I listen to podcasts every day while at work.  And previously, that would be somewhere between 5-8 different ones at any given time.  Right now, for whatever reason, I’m just listening to one, all day every day.  I’m sure I’ll get tired of it and get back to some of my other ones, but for now, it’s pretty mesmerizing.  If you’re interested in checking it out, it’s called the Mental Illness Happy Hour.  It is definitely not for the faint of heart.  The host jokes that he does not give advanced notice for triggers because he would have to stop every couple of minutes to announce another Trigger Warning.  And it is absolutely true.  There is a lot of stuff about abuse of all kinds, dark secrets and shame, both sexual in nature and just like, the kinds of stuff that randomly pops in your head and you hate yourself for thinking it.  The host lightens things up by being in turns uplifting and darkly humorous.  Each show is somewhere between 2-3 hours (!?!), and he’d read people’s surveys they’ve sent in anonymously, and he will also interview one person per show.  He’s doing all this seemingly on his own, and he’s making a living off of it.  I’m kinda obsessed right now.

3 ways I have asserted my gender identity, recently

Posted: September 23, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, name change, Passing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

As top surgery results and testosterone have been working their magic, I have felt less hung up on how I am perceived.  This is great news!  I feel less drained when I go out in public, generally.  I’ve taken things into my own hands when I feel like I’ve needed to, and this had not been psychically difficult, by any means!  Here are some ways I have been true to my non-binary identity:

1.  I Tampered With My Driver’s License.
Since I don’t live in Oregon or California, I still have to legally be either “Male” or “Female.”  Although I legally changed my name to something more masculine, I opted to remain “female,” legally.  This has led to feelings of dysphoria, but being “male” would have anyway, as well.  So, as of a few months ago, I decided to put a bright neon sticker over my “Sex” on my driver’s license.  At first it was neon orange.  Currently it’s neon green.  The color doesn’t make too much of a difference – just the fact that no one can see whether it’s “M” or “F” is huge for me.  I’ve shown it at the pharmacy, bought beer with it, gotten “carded” at restaurants, shown it to bouncers at bars and nightclubs.  No one has commented or had an issue with it – they just need to know how old I am, and that I am who I say I am!  That’s it.  (As an aside, when I traveled abroad, I did take the sticker off, because I didn’t think TSA agents would be too thrilled about that…)

2.  School Pictures
I am an elementary school janitor – every year, I go through the same routines:  first day of school, winter concerts, spring concerts, curriculum nights, open house, book fair, the 5th grade breakfast, last day of school, etc.  No one can forget school pictures!  They happen within the first weeks of school – this year, it was a week ago, today.  As a staff member, I have to participate, and then I get some free photos, and I get a sheet of all the faculty and staff, every year.  In the past, I have gone by the initials that I used to go by, which was “KT” and then [last name].  Unless I wasn’t feeling like speaking up (which was the case on a couple of occasions) I made sure the picture company had me down as “KT” instead of “Mrs.,” “Ms.,” or “Mr.”  This year, surprisingly, I “passed” as male, as I saw the picture lady write down, “Mr.” and then ask me what my last name is.  Without hesitating, I gave her my last name (new, legally changed), and then said, “Can you change that ‘Mr.’ to ‘Mx.’?  It’s neither ‘Mr.’ nor ‘Ms.’ ”  She replied, “I guess I can,” and I watched her cross out what she had and re-write “Mx.”  It was awesome!  I kinda can’t wait to get my sheet of faculty and staff photos this year.

3.  Playing It By Ear, As I Go
This last one is a bit of a contradiction -I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I cannot assert my non-binary identity in every and all cases, so, if people are given a heads-up that I’ve changed my name and pronouns, in some situations, that is good enough.  Especially at work.  Teachers have been great about switching over.  And I honestly don’t know how many of them get the nuances I’ve tried to convey.  A couple of them for sure, because they asked me questions, and I had some really satisfying conversations.  But in addition to this, there’s a larger group of people who are slowly hearing about it (or not) by word of mouth – mainly buildings and grounds workers.  Electricians, plumbers, HVAC specialists, people I see now and then, but certainly not every day.  If they get that I am a trans-person, and they are respectful, then, that is good enough.  There’s this one guy who is over at our school a lot.  A few weeks ago, he took me aside, and, obviously nervous about the exchange, he said, “So, I just want to know, because we are friends… It’s Kameron now?”  He was just verifying something he wanted to make sure he was getting right, and, in my eyes, I was really psyched about this because he’s a guy that I think other workers look up to.  So, the more positivity around it, the better.  The less nasty gossip behind my back, the better.  And, to that end, I just went to a union meeting two days ago, and the secretary addressed me by my old moniker, “KT.”  I almost didn’t correct her, because… I don’t know… the picking your battles thing, I guess.  BUT!  Someone else corrected her, someone that I didn’t know knew yet!  And so, I riffed off of that, asserting, “Yep, it’s Kameron now.  I changed my name.”  She shrunk into herself at hearing that, but, whatever.  Another buildings and grounds guy took it from there, telling me loudly that his “niece” just transitioned recently into his “nephew.”  We sat down and continued to converse so that anyone and everyone could hear, if they tuned in.  He was just overjoyed to be accepting “Shane,” his middle-school-aged family member.   At no point did I try to assert that I was neither male nor female.  If he got the gist that I am trans, and he spreads the word with a positive attitude, then that is better than good enough.  Acceptance, even if limited in understanding, is still worth it!

I came out to our neighbor

Posted: June 28, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, mental health, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

I can’t believe there’s still so many intense conversations to be had!  Why does it take forever?!

In general in our neighborhood, my spouse and I don’t have a rapport with people.  Like, at best, I watched our next-door neighbor’s cat one time, and we went to a backyard fire at her place twice, like two summers ago.

We also have a neighbor a few houses down who borrows our lawn mower a lot.  This is the guy I’m talking about today – I ran into him yesterday, off our street.

I was walking on a major road nearby, to a coffee shop to write some letters to friends.  (I am still out of work on medical leave right now.)  He saw me first, from across the street.  We probably have only seen each other once or twice since last summer.  He’s always super friendly, so he was shouting, “Hey, hey, how are you?” and crossing the street at the same time.  I steeled myself (slightly), and returned the greeting, meeting him partway to shake his hand and ask how he’s been, what he was up to.

He was walking home after buying his lotto tickets, etc. but that’s neither here nor there.  We talked about past neighbors that he’s kept up with, and about his plans for retirement.  I told him my spouse was going back to school in the fall for a master’s program.  (Oh, hey, PS: blog-friends, my spouse is doing this big thing coming up.  Grad school!!!)

Then I told him that I legally changed my name to Kameron.  And that I got my passport and driver’s ID and everything changed over.  He asked me if this was a good thing, and I said, yeah, yeah it is.  Then I realized he just has no idea, so I spelled it out – I said, “I’m transgender, I’m actually more in the middle, not like I am going to become a man.  But like, at work and my friends and family, I use male pronouns, ‘he/him/his.'”

He started to get it then, and as soon as he did, he started apologizing.  For being invasive, or something, I guess?  I just kept repeating, “No, you’re fine.  It’s not personal.  This is a part of who I am.  So, like my parents are all good with it, everyone’s all good.  It just took me a long time.  There’s a lot of discrimination.  Like, say, fifteen years ago, it wasn’t even OK just to be gay.  Things are changing though.”

He definitely got that.  It immediately sunk in.  He said, “Oh yeah, like you might have been depressed and now things are better for you?  I bet people deal with suicides and stuff, right?”  I said “Yes, and even bullying and hate crimes and everything.  It’s bad.  I mean, I don’t like to be negative, but yeah, it can be bad.”

He then proceeded to ask about operations and surgeries, and I just said, “Well, that part of it is personal.  So, I mean, I’ll figure that out as it comes.  But for now everything is all good.”  He does not need to know about my top-surgery status or anything else of that nature, for sure!

He started apologizing again, haha.

I shook his hand again and said he was free to borrow our lawn mower if he needs it.  We exchanged more pleasantries and parted ways.  I felt really good about it.  He kept referring to my spouse as my girlfriend, but hey, I can’t correct the man on every little detail.  He got the gist of the most important stuff for now, and that’s more than fine by me!  It felt like another tiny weight lifted off.  Dang, how much extra “weight” am I actually carrying?!  That’s still a mystery that is becoming just a little bit clearer…

How I became “Mixter”

Posted: January 16, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, Janitorial work, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

This article first appeared on Transgender Universe, here:  How I Became Mixter

For the sake of clarity, I’m going to give myself a pseudonym dead-name, for this article.  Assume that before changing my name, my name was “KD Shorts.”  And my new, legal name is “Kameron.”

A little over two years ago, I was at a workshop at the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference, and one of the presenters was mentioning that they go by the honorific, Mx. (Mixter) in their professional settings.  I had heard of this before, but I thought it was just a theoretical pipe dream.  Here was someone who was actually using it, in their actual life!  I felt soooo jealous.  I thought to myself (with a good dose of biting envy), “Oooh, look at the progressive academic who gets to waltz around in an enlightened and indulgent bubble all day long.”  I never thought I would get there.  Furthermore, even though I’m in my thirties, it was tough to envision a world where I was grown-up enough to have an honorific of my own.

I’d done an excellent job at avoiding it.  No Mr. or Ms. for me!  I am a janitor at an elementary school:  a place where there’s a lot of “Mr. / Mrs. / Miss / Ms. [last name]” around the kids, and then first names amongst ourselves.  Except for the custodial staff.  It’s first names all around for us, generally.  Everywhere except for our name plates on the custodial office door.  There, we are “Mr. [last name]” and “Mrs. [last name]”  I had somehow gotten away with requesting that I be simply “KD Shorts.”  It was awesome.

There was another sticking point though:  every year, at school pictures time.  We get our pics taken,  and then we get some freebies, as well as a sheet of all the staff pics – just like a student would get a sheet of their class.  And so, we had to give our names, to be recorded on the sheet.  It would vary from year to year, depending on how vocal/empowered I was feeling.  I usually told the portrait employee, “no Ms. or Mr.  Just KD Shorts.”  There were a few years though, where I was “Ms. Shorts” as the default.

These past few weeks, I’ve been riding the wave of legally changing my name, which has been especially gratifying at work, where I was still known as KD Shorts, (she/her/hers).  Everywhere else in my life, I had been going by “Kameron” for about two years, and (he/him/his) for many many years prior to that.  So, essentially, I utilized this time of change as a chance to come out at work.

I talked to the principal and assistant principal on Friday, December 23rd.  I stated that I was changing my name and my pronouns, and that I identify as neither a man nor a woman.  The impromptu meeting was less than stellar – they fixated on bathrooms and the fact that the change was going to be hard for people to remember.  They did mention that they wanted me to feel comfortable, but didn’t offer any concrete ways that that could happen.  I did not panic though – I was thinking, “do not catastrophize this.”  I remained neutral and open, but I didn’t use it as a teaching moment.  I shouldn’t have to!  I thought that things would work out fine, ultimately, and if not, I could always call in the big guns:  my local gay alliance’s speaker’s bureau, to do the educating on my behalf.

We all took a time out for winter recess.  I then came in on Tuesday, January 3rd, and the principal asked me if I’d come speak to her.  Of her own volition, she had consulted the head of HR, and she had basically done a 180.  We had a much more fruitful discussion.  She still was strong in her opinions, but she made it clear that every choice was up to me, and I could take some time to think it over.  We ended up talking about:
– How to come out, and the timeline
– How my name would appear on my name plate on the custodial office door
– Bathrooms

Coming out:  I said that I have already pretty much told the people I would naturally tell in person, the ones I see regularly or semi-regularly.  And I wasn’t going to be able to get to everyone, so if she could either make an announcement at the next staff meeting and/or send an email, that’d be great.  We agreed she would do both.  I told her I’d get back to her with the content I’d like her to say.

Name plate:  The biggie!  I said I had two ideas, but I didn’t say exactly what they were.  (I’ll say it here though!  Either  1. just “Kameron” and nothing else.  2. Mx. [last name].)  She said that her thought was that my co-workers have Mr. _____ and Mrs. _____, so it’d be great if I conformed to that and picked one or the other.  I said, “OK!  Great, there is another option that I will go with.  It’s Mx.  That’s pronounced ‘Mixter.'”  She wrote it down in her notes.  It was a done deal!

Bathrooms:  I could write an additional article about this (heck, probably more like a dissertation!), but to keep it short and sweet:  We agreed that I get to pick where I go, and I am making no big deal of it, and it does not need to be a part of any announcement.

All’s how it should be!  Just one more small way I am joining the world of adults.  That’s Mixter, to you.

I came out at work

Posted: December 22, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, Janitorial work, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

This has been my biggest transition goal.  For a long time.  I always knew I would / could, at some point in the (distant) future, but usually it felt like there’d be no way.  I’ve been riding the waves of my legal name change though, and getting in on that as an opportunity to say that there’s more to it than just that I am going to go by a new name now.

Monday – My supervisor had been out of work for 3 weeks, and Monday was her first day back.  During her absence, I had received the signed court order from a judge in the mail, and was starting in on some of the bureaucratic processes:  going to the DMV, going to my bank, etc.  So it was good timing for when she came back – I told her (again) that I was changing my name, and I deferred to her in terms of what she thought I should do.  I did not tell her anything beyond the name change, and she expressed concern that she wasn’t going to remember.  I also came out to my 2nd co-worker (my one co-worker has been in my corner this whole time.)  She was emotional in her responses, but I’m sure she’ll be fine / nothing will change.

Tuesday – Before work, I went to the “third floor” to speak to the benefits lady.  I filled out paperwork.  She asked me if I had my new Social Security card, and I was like, “uhhhh…”  I made a mental note to get on that.  She said we could get things started anyway, without it, and I just send over a copy when I get it.  While at work, I came out to my favorite teacher.  It went well.  The reason I like her is because she just seems real.  We don’t talk a whole lot, but when we do, she’s always reserved yet super thoughtful in her insights.  She shared with me a couple of impressions her 4-year old daughter has had of me (she’s met me a handful of times.)  That was nice.  I told her the name and the pronoun thing, but I didn’t get as far as “neither male nor female” in this interaction.  It was good enough for me right then; she said, “I’m happy for you,” a couple of times.

Wednesday – I gave it a day or two.  My supervisor basically seemed to think now I just wait for things to trickle down from the “third floor.”  I wasn’t feeling that – I was feeling more proactive than that, but I gave it a day.  I In the meantime, I emailed our union president (the benefits lady prompted me to do this) to give him a heads up.  We just had an election in November, and my favorite buildings and grounds guy was elected.  It’s always a buildings and grounds guy, and if it has to be one, I’m so glad it’s him because I think he can absorb the news and take the lead on it within all those guys – electricians, plumbers, HVAC, maintenance, conservatives, white men, Trump supporters, etc. etc.  Hopefully.

Thursday (today) – I talked to my supervisor about when can I change my badge, stuff like that, and she reiterated that I just wait and it’ll all happen.  What I was really most concerned about was talking to the principal (again), so that she hears it from me, and so that she hears all of the information.  I knew that once I talked to her, she’d take it from there (I’m not sure how she’ll do it, but the whole school will know through her.)  My supervisor said she mentioned it to the principal, and I took that as a green light.  I came out to three more teachers (one of them told me about a relative, and I was able to get to the part about “not male or female” with her, which felt great!)  I was feeling pressure to talk to the principal either today or tomorrow because we’re going into Xmas Recess, and having everyone know when they come back from break would be ideal.  So I made it happen.  After school but before the admin. assistants leave for the day, I went to the office to see if the principal was available.  The assistant principal happened to be with her in her office right then, which worked out perfectly.  Kill two birds with one stone!  Plus, the dynamic with both of them was so much better.  A lot of times, they are like foils to each other.  I said the stuff (the name, the pronouns, the “neither male nor female,”) the principal brought up bathrooms (which I have mixed feelings about), the assistant principal brought the energy and excitement, but also brought up how he was not going to be able to remember, and that’s not anything about me.  I said yeah yeah I know it’ll be an adjustment period.  (In my head, I’m thinking, how long is this adjustment period, exactly???)

Friday (tomorrow) – I have about 5 other people I’d like to tell in person, if I get the chance.  If not, no big deal.  Everyone’s gonna be focused on Xmas parties and getting ready for domestic family things and cookies and blah blah blah.  We’ll see.  The best part is there’s really no more pressure!

And so, that’s it!  Now I just wait for things to happen around me.  Next week, during Xmas Recess, the only people who will be at the school will be me, my two co-workers, my supervisor, and maybe the principal and assistant principal.  So, that’s a whole week for the people who say my name the most, to practice.  I have a feeling my co-worker / ally will step up and lead it, followed by me correcting everyone every single time.

Then teachers and kids come back.  And teachers will have a heads up from the principal one way or another, and then I just start correcting, correcting, correcting.  For how long?  Not sure.

(I gotta say, I definitely feel good and accomplished, but I don’t feel that “wheeeeeeeee” feeling that often comes with big comings-out.  I’m attributing that to my medication, for better and worse.  It makes so many things so much easier, but those roller coaster feelings – yeah, I miss the good ones…)

Finally changing my name legally

Posted: November 21, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

I started going by “Kameron,” socially, in May of last year.  I had a turning-point conversation with my spouse a couple of months before that, but I wanted to let it sink in, because once, years ago, I picked out a name I thought I wanted to go by.  But then I just didn’t do anything more with it.  So I wanted to see if that was going to happen again, or if I would actually move ahead.  My spouse started calling me the name around the house, and then, a pivotal moment was trying the name out within a group of strangers that I was only seeing on a temporary basis:  Being transgender while in a partial hospitalization program.  That helped immensely; to hear the name repeatedly and see if it would sink in.  Once that felt right, I emailed a bunch of people with this new information (and with a new phone number).  That was a big move, but I haven’t regretted it.  It’s been a super easy transition – no one, surprisingly, has messed up in front of me, once.  Plus, acquaintances and friends of friends heard word from others, so I barely had to tell or remind anyone!  So cool!  (Well, ok, except for family members, which is different).

Last Monday, I finally went downtown to get the process rolling on getting it legally changed.  I think the hold-up was:  I wasn’t ready to come out at work, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to change my last name, too, while I was at it.

I’m now feeling good about coming out at work within the near future.  Also, I decided to change my first, middle, and last name.  That’s going to take some getting used to, since I haven’t changed that anywhere yet, even socially.  Guess I gotta come up with a new signature too.

The process was not too bad:  I printed some documents out from an online site, and fortunately my spouse’s dad is a notary, so we were able to go over to her parents’ house to get that all in order and signed, the day before.  I had Monday off work, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day, so I decided to bike.  (So glad I did because I ended up having to go back and forth, and to a few places.  Parking is tough downtown, and I was able to zip around and lock up at VIP spots anywhere I was going, haha – VIP spots meaning street signs and trees.)

I first went to the information desk at the County Clerks’ office.  The lady was brusque, giving me 2 other documents that had to be filled out, asking me if I had my index #, and telling me I needed 3 copies of all these papers.  Luckily, my spouse’s dad, who works downtown, had told me I could contact him if I needed anything else.  I called him, biked over the few blocks to his office – it was cool to see where he works! – and he helped me fill out the rest, plus he made copies of everything and paper-clipped everything neatly and efficiently, with clips on both the top and the sides!)  I thanked him and rode back and got in line, where I stood for probably a half hour.  When it was my turn though, I got through quickly.  I paid the $210 fee, got my index number, and got a receipt.

They told me I then had to go to the Hall of Justice, to the Judicial Clerk’s office.  This involved more bike riding, plus a walk through a metal detector and asking around in order to find the right room.  Things went smoothly there too, although I noticed that on the receipt I got from the County Clerk’s office, they spelled “Kameron,” “Kamerson.”  Aarrgh!  I asked if this was going to be a problem, and I was assured that it was fine – the judge wasn’t going to be looking at that at all.

I then biked to a coffee shop and worked on some writing for the rest of the afternoon.  About to head home, I ran into a friend, and we chatted for a while.  Then a stranger approached us with a digital recorder, and he asked if he could ask us a question for a radio show.  I said, “probably!”  So he launched into, “OK, so the Cubs won the world series, and that hasn’t happened in 108 years.  And then Trump was actually elected president.  So, with all this going on, what’s next?”  I said, “Flying lizards,” just because it was the first thing that popped into my head, but if I had thought for even just a second, in retrospect, I would have said, “SUPERMOON!” because I’d heard that on that day, (November 14th), it was the biggest it’s been in 69 years, and it’s not going to be that big again for another 34!

supermoon

Oh well.  Next time I’ll make more sense.

Being transgender while in a partial hospitalization program

Posted: May 13, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: coming out, name change | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

This post is in tandem with a post from back in February, Being transgender while hospitalized.

For the past two weeks, I was attending a partial hospitalization program every day from 9:30 – 3:15.  Our day was broken up into 5 workshops / activities, and we pretty much stayed with the same group and the same social worker / teacher.  Every day we had new people arrive and people finish their 10 days and leaving.

The first session was always “process group,” where we talked about our previous evening and if we used any of the skills we were learning about.  Right off the bat, while introducing myself, I let everyone know my name is Kameron and I’m transgender and use male pronouns.  The social worker replied, saying “thank you for letting us know – sometimes we have people who don’t say anything about it.  I really appreciate it.”

They had to use my legal name for paperwork and official stuff, but it seemed like they could use my chosen name for the daily roster, and I asked the social worker about that.  She said, “yes let’s change it – I’ll make a note and you can mention it to the administrative assistant.”  During break, I went up to talk to her, and surprisingly she said, “No, it has to be your legal name.”  The next day, my legal name was on the roster, and next to it, “Kameron.”  Like that, with quotation marks.  It felt weird but I guess it was a compromise.  Other than that though, everyone always called me Kameron.

During a break one day, someone shared their People magazine with me – a recent one with an article about Bruce Jenner.  It felt good she wanted to point that out to me, like she was connecting with me.  I read the article, which was actually well done.  They referred to Bruce with male pronouns, but made it a point to explain that at this time, Bruce and his family are using male pronouns, so People magazine is too.  Seemed logical.

When new people joined our group, I continued to say I’m trans and I use male pronouns.  On one occasion, I got into it a lot more, saying that I feel somewhere in the middle and don’t plan to live my life as a man.  That strangers almost always see me as female, and it’s difficult to navigate in the world.  Later on, I got the best feedback ever.  A new person came up to me and said that if I’m going for in between genders, I’ve got it down.  They could not tell which gender I am, and when I spoke and gave my name, they still couldn’t tell.  They had no idea, but if they absolutely had to guess, they would have said “male.”  They gave me a thumbs up.  That really brightened my day (for a short time because I’m depressed and am having a hard time absorbing the good things.)

One person told me that they worked with a lot of transgender people in the past.  They asked me, “Have you had any surgeries.”  I quickly and calmly steered them away from this, saying, “I’d rather not talk about that; that’s personal.  What I am interested in talking about though is the social stigma and daily struggles.”  That then turned into a discussion about stigmas surrounding mental illness, and everything was fine.

Other than that, everyone was respectful and consistent.  This was the first time I was trying out the name “Kameron,” and it felt good.  No one knew I’m not using that name in my life yet, and it didn’t matter.  I’ve since been telling more friends about my name, and when my partner leaves notes for me, she writes, “Kameron.”  This is really starting to have some forward momentum.  It feels scary right now, but also it feels affirming, so I’m going to keep going.

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