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Twice, in the many jobs I have had, I have worked in a business where an individual was in the process of transitioning. For those of you who might not know, transitioning is the arduous process of preparing for Gender Reassignment Surgery, which is as far as some people are concerned the objective for which certain individuals are labeled as transsexuals. Ironically, in both cases, at the time I learned of it, I was in my final weeks at each business and the manner in which I learned of it was both alarming and a bit frightening. I heard, in both cases, through the grapevine, and not in a polite "Oh, by the way, did you know...?" kind of way.

I would be hard pressed to quote any single, nasty remark, and yet I doubt I really need to. I never rule out the possibility that some people are more tolerant and sympathetic, but in my own experience the views that are most often expressed by those who have never experienced the misery and agony of being transgendered are mockingly cruel and intolerant or worse, indignant. The ironic thing is that every response I've ever heard underscores how powerfully gender and identity are related. By their very existence, transsexuals somehow threaten the identities of the men and women around them, calling into question what it means to be a man or a woman.

The underlying problem, however, is that our insistence on viewing ourselves as men and women is so great that it can obscure our view of an individual as a person. I often wonder if people realize the full significance of a topic like transsexuals in the workplace. On the surface, in the most superficial way, a transsexual in the workplace challenges the status quo, but in truth one draws unwanted attention to the problems that are inherent in the status quo. It draws attention to issues concerning identity, conformity, sexuality, morality, and even sanity. It demands more thought and consideration than people are usually willing to give the matter.

As a transgendered person, I can state flat out that the attitudes most people have about transsexuals has destroyed me. The very idea of transitioning on the job absolutely terrifies me. I can barely hold it together posing as a man and drawing no attention to myself; the idea of trying to function on a professional level while undergoing such a personal and awkward ordeal drove me to the brink of suicide. I doubt I can ever make a "normal" person understand just how debilitating it is to be transgendered, or what it has cost me

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