Following is the coming out letter I sent to the company right after my work group was notified in person about my transition.

To the Graphics Engineering Team & [company] Management Team,

We are writing this to notify you of a change that will be happening with one of our [company] employees. While this change is of a personal nature, it is also one that may be surprising to many of you, and may even be uncomfortable to others. Consequently, we feel it is important to let you know about the change and to take this opportunity to reinforce [company]'s desire to support the right of individuals to make personal decisions.

One of our long time Test Engineers, -----, will be continuing a personal transition that began during the past several months. Beginning next Thursday, ----- will be taking a major step in a gender transition where he will fully assume his life's role as a woman.

Some of -----'s team are already aware of this change. Others on the team, as well as other [company] employees, will be surprised. While there are many who have expressed general support for -----'s choice, we anticipate that a variety of personal reactions will surface as this change occurs. We acknowledge each person's right to his or her own personal thoughts and beliefs. [Company] remains committed to certain principles as an employer, including our support for the right of individuals to make personal choices. As always, our responsibility is to ensure a safe and healthy environment where employees of diverse backgrounds and beliefs can work free of harassment, intimidation or discrimination. In addition, our management principles expect employees to perform well in their jobs and to contribute to the overall success of [company]. In -----'s case, he has demonstrated his commitment in this regard, and has reinforced this commitment as he assumes the identity of Anonymous. I am hopeful that you will be able to continue to support Anonymous in the performance of her job.

Effective with this change, ----- will change his name to Anonymous. Anonymous will be the name you'll see on her cubicle sign, QuickMail and AppleLink addresses, etc. We have designated certain womens' restrooms (see below) that will be available to Anonymous. However, in order to respect the wishes of any women who might be uncomfortable with sharing a restroom with her, we have reserved certain restrooms in each building to be unavailable to her.

[Company] management is working to support -----/Anonymous [during this transition period and ask that you do the same. We have invited a representative from our EAP to hold an informational meeting on the topic of Gender Transition next Tuesday, July 18th, from 3:00 - 4:00pm in the ORD conference room. If you (or any of your employees) are interested in understanding more on this subject, please contact HR via QuickMail to register.

Sincerely,

[Name]
Vice President, Human Resources

[Name]
Director, Graphics Product Development
Acting Vice President, Product Development

Restrooms that will be available to Anonymous:

Interstitial building: the 4th floor womens' room, and the single-restrooms on the 1st floor.

Wedge building: all three women's rooms located on the East end of the building (opposite end from the lobby area).

Anonymous

Copyright by the author.

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