The political situation for trans people in the southern US has been devolving rapidly and I’m looking to move to a protected state. I’m going to start applying to jobs soon, and I’ve been considering whether I should apply as my dead self or not.
I haven’t changed my legal name yet, so my job applications immediately out me as trans and even if it didn’t I don’t pass at all currently, so if I got an interview I’d be outed then. I’ve been reading about how hard it is to get a job as a trans woman and I’ll need all the help I can get to get out of this shithole state.
It would kill me to have to go back into the closet for work, but the alternative is being potentially stuck in a place that will forcibly detransition me which is way worse.
Has anyone been in this situation or has any advice?
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Two things:
- You are not limited to the US, there are a lot of countries that are just better in pretty much every way.
- Ask yourself whether you would enjoy working at a company that was transphobic enough to only invite you because they didn’t know you were trans. The filter here goes both ways!
I cannot tell you what is right for you, but I do think it might be worth a thought…
Frankly, that depends on what sort of jobs you’re applying for. My familiarity is with tech work and it tends to be accepting. While you’ll have to put your dead legal name on some forms, it’s generally not a problem to apply under your real name.
Definitely do start applying for jobs in blue states, you might get lucky enough to land one that offers relocation assistance to help with the move.
Do whatever makes you feel safe Hon. Just always remember you are who you are, and what you have to do to get through the day is not a reflection of that. An out trans woman is no more/less valid than one living under a theocracy that would harm her.
I hope you will be able to move soon, you’ll be in my thoughts sweetie. Wishing you the best! ♥ 💕
♥️
See if there are any decent government jobs in your area (USAJobs.gov). The bureaucracy is a major pain in the ass, but everything is quantified including your application / interview etc - your score will crunch against other candidates, and you get in on merit with pretty much zero consideration put into anything that isn’t on the job posting, including being trans.
This ^
That being said, outside of the DC area, the majority of federal (not state) government jobs are going to be DoD or DoD adjacent (VA, DHA). Source: i am one of those.
The major benefits aren’t as good as they used to be I’m told. Anyone joining post-2013 gets an instant 4.4% deducted off their salary for pension (FERS) compared to a less than 1% deduction for pre-2013, and 5% default deduction for thrift savings plan/TSP (401k equivalent). insurance is only mildly cheaper than elsewhere. Biggest benefit for tech is a solid 40 hour work week, no bullshit unpaid overtime and on-call is almost unheard of.
Dual leave accrual is pretty sweet (sick leave and annual leave accrue separately, and are separate pools to draw from). Any contractor DoD jobs are going to pay a lot more than their civilian counterpart, by a matter of several 10s of thousands more.
