how to transition in the workplace and keep a low profile.........NOT......
FLASH
What is even more difficult is to transition in the workplace. The hardships some of us find from the ignorance/prejudice and from being victimised sometimes stops TS's from even contemplating transtioning in there workplace. Some find they need to move on and find other work. A new start at work as well as in there lifestyle.
My workplace is no different. I am a Correctional Officer, a Prison Officer as we used to be known. I have been working in this role for over 11 years. I have worked in Maximum,Medium and Minimum Classification prisons, in the Courts and now I am a Transport Officer. My job is to transport inmates from gaols to courts,police stations and other areas. My main area of work is the Sydney Metropolitan Area in Sydney Australia. I cannot say that I truly enjoy my work. Especially dealing with some of the "clients" we have to deal with.
My personal background is common enough.. I served for 13 plus years in the Australian Army. Most of that time I was a Combat Engineer,with my first year serving as a Army Fireman.
I was a Bush Fire Fighter for over 21 years. Fighting bush fires in the some of the major bushfires in the Sydney region. That time I found as the most rewarding experiences I have ever been involved in.
Transitioning in the workplace has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. My work colleagues have known since late 2002 of my decision to take this road. I have tried to explain my reasons for this,I do prefer to be open and honest with them as it may ease any problems I expect to face. I decided early on to take my time transitioning in my workplace.
I didnt though expect to receive the kind of publicity I had from our state parliament and the media. The results of this caused my partner and I severe anxiety,stress and depression.
The reasons for this publicity was due to some female officers resenting me using the female change rooms. The story behind this was that they were told about it happening eventually and I was hoping that we may reach an agreement on giving all of us further privacy in the change rooms. Cubicles or partitions were mentioned but dismissed out of hand. Eventually after the Anti Discrimination Board had explained to the officers that the law is the law .The female officers then approached the dept and agreed that they had no issues about me using the change rooms as long as there was extra privacy placed in the change rooms..???????? i.e cubicles or partitions. So we went round in circles....All that heartache for them to agree anyway...........
I am still to this day suffering some discrimination at work. It is ironic that I have received a lot more support from my colleagues since these issues became public. A lot of colleagues have approached me and offered there support which is heart warming. As these issues subside from memory my job becomes easier.
If you check out the right hand side of the page you will see links to the newspaper articles I referred to and our response which was as we all know always going to be misquoted by the press....
STORY
ONE
STORY TWO
