Working with a Transsexual - A Guide for Coworkers

Janis Walworth
Center for Gender Sanity, Los Angeles, 1999
ISBN 0-9665488-1-7

Meet Brenda...

She's successful in her job as an editor at the small midwestern publishing company where she has worked for seven years. She's well-liked by her coworkers. And last week, she was Brian. Brenda is a transsexual, and she, like many others, is changing her sex while remaining on her job.

Corporations, government agencies, and small businesses across America are discovering that transsexual workers can remain productive while they make this major life transition. They may even become less stressed, more focused, and better team members.

People are often taken by surprise when they are told that one of their coworkers is planning to change sex. How would you react? Would you have difficulty understanding why this was necessary? Would you have questions about how to interact with a transsexual man or woman? Would you have fears about how a transsexual coworker might behave? Would you have a hard time sharing your workspace with a transsexual? Would you want to know how you could be supportive?

This book answers those questions and many more. In it, Brenda tells about her life as Brian and what compelled her to change her sex. A psychologist and a transsexual man talk to Brenda's coworkers and answer their questions. And a picture section introduces you to real transsexual men and women.

Janis Walworth, MS, has worked with a transsexual community since 1991 as an activist, writer, counselor, and educator. She is author of Transsexual Workers: An Employer's Guide an founder of the Center for Gender Sanity, which offers sensitivity training and consulting services to employers with transsexual workers.