by Lynette Alice

Created on: October 17, 2007   Last Updated: February 07, 2009

I can't speak for everyone, only myself and the experiences I know personally to be true. I am a transsexual person in my mid thirties. Leaving all other factors aside I will concentrate on one of the single hardest aspects of transexualisim which was transitioning on the job.

I lost my job in transition. Transition is the period of time in which a transsexual person is awaiting their surgical resolution for those that choose that route. I did not lose my job by some wrongful dismissal as in all honesty I left voluntarily. The reason this happened was because transition did negatively impact my client base. I was a professional broker working in the same firm my father and grandfather worked for. Neither my ability to to my job nor my knowledge was downgraded by being a transperson but my ability to interact effectively with co-workers and clients was.

This was the type of firm which handled money that was primarily passed generation to generation. The people whose accounts I handled had to have trust in me that I would and could do what was best for them. My co-workers had to have faith in me and also feel comfortable with me. Once transition began, for the most part they did not. I found myself being left out of the offices' business and social machinations and eventually began losing clients. In a small community it doesn't take long for word of a transsexual on the scene to travel. In some cases colleagues submarined me by disclosing said information to clients as a potential problem involving my mental faculties. While we were all on the same "Team" competition for clients and commissions always exists. Some clients would simply say they wanted a change or felt more comfortable with someone else directing their nest egg as a reason for switching off my service. It could have been possible.

Over the course of a year I slowly watched my client list fall to less than 20% of my pre transition numbers. No significant new business was coming my way. Much of it was directed away from me for fear I would give the wrong impression to a prospective investor although I was trotted out for new gay clientele quite happily. Eventually I simply fell to the point where I wasn't earning my keep. I had no choice but leave voluntarily or wait for the ax to fall and decided to move of my own free will. In retrospect I should have rode out the storm. I soon realized anywhere I applied, it was going to be far harder to get commensurate work and pay to my previous highs. After

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