hit send

"There is another issue I have been needing to discuss, but I haven't known how to bring it up or who to bring it to. I am transgender, and very recently began hormone therapy to start my transition from female to male. I don't know what this will mean for my job with ADF. Despite the many challenges, I like working with [A] and [S], and would like be able to continue to do so. I find myself in need of guidance for this situation, and hope that you will be able to help me through this difficult point in my transition.
Sincerely,
[J], aka Seth"

I took a deep breath, hit send, and now I wait.

into the open

SO.

I was lucky enough to hear back from Robin (my company's HR person) quickly. She was immediately supportive and asked if I preferred to go by Seth and have male pronouns used for me.

The main issue is A's history- she is specifically supposed to have female supports for reasons I won't get into for confidentiality. HOWEVER, Robin was saying they had a similar situation in the past, where a support staff (my position) changed gender from female to male with a client who otherwise only had female staff for similar reasons. Because the staff was already known to the client, the staff was able to make the change without much of an issue. So things are still up in the air regarding how A will be able to handle my transition, but it looks hopeful that it will be alright. Robin also asked, if it becomes an option (she wasn't sure if it would or not), if I would like to support someone who didn't have specific gendered support needs. I responded that I would be happy to pursue whichever option seemed best to Robin and ADF's other management.

Having brought it out into the open is a huge relief, even if my job security at the moment is still a little questionable. I am reassured that ADF will do everything in their power to help me through this, so with any luck the stress of this issue will soon be a thing of the past.