"This Made Me Smile..."

Yesterday was The International Day of Transgender Visibility and at my work we have many very active ERGs including one for LGBTQIA+ associates. That ERG had a speaker's event yesterday afternoon with a number of transgender/non-binary guests from across our organization who shared their stories with us. As I look back on the event today, I am so glad that I took time to join in and hear their stories. It was a powerfully moving hour that reinforced for me the need for my allyship with everyone in our broader community. Much like my own coming out story, the speakers shared many of the painful truths they've endured along their journey of the human experience. And like many in the meeting, I learned so much that I never knew or could have even imagined about what it means to be a non-binary person and the struggles they face on a daily basis.  

The organization I work for is truly dedicated to DE&I and I was so proud to see that not only was my division president in the meeting, but also several important members of the executive leadership team of our parent company as well. It was so meaningful to everyone in the meeting to hear these C-suite leaders pledging to do what's right to support everyone's journey. I am truly thankful to be a part of an enterprise which knows that together, we are all stronger.

I don't remember where I found this meme, and at the time I didn't really know what it meant, but yesterday I finally understood it.  An "NB Friend*" means a non-binary friend, and "Dead Name" is what NB people call their previous name before transitioning (when many will choose a name reflecting their gender reality). Each of the speakers yesterday referred to issues with their "dead name" and how it can be a reminder of painful incidents like when someone uses it to knowingly be hurtful and deny the NB person's reality. The speakers also shared how difficult and sometimes even triggering it is for them, even after going through legal name change procedures to get their names/gender identities changed in company records on even seemingly simple things like insurance IDs, email accounts and business cards.  This was an area that the senior leaders in the meeting promised to address with urgency.

Like the company I work for, I believe in standing up for everyone's right to be who they are... Who am I or anyone else to say what someone should do or be like or feel. We're all unique in our own ways and how we feel inside is just as innate as the color of our eyes or the size of our fingers. As the meeting drew to a close, I realized that tears had been streaming from my eyes during parts of the speakers' talks, but by the end I was smiling to realize how fortunate I am to work in a supportive environment of acceptance and understanding that each of us have meaningful contributions to make as we continue our journey through the human experience.

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* Noun. NB (also Nb, nb, and the phonetic "enby") is an abbreviation for "non-binary" and denotes a spectrum of gender identities that do not follow the traditional gender binary expressions of "male" and "female".

NB is often used attributively to describe people who identify as non-binary and is also often used by those individuals to describe themselves.