Coming out Transgender to Your Teachers

Some of you may have a hard time coming up with what to say in your email to the teachers when you come out in high school. Here’s what I wrote, you could just copy this and change up the words.
__________________________________________________

First of all, sorry that this is so long, it's just really important to me.

I know that you know me as “[Birth Name]” from the attendance list for [class]. I’m writing you this email so that I can let you know before the next semester starts that I’d rather you not call me that anymore. I’d rather you call me [Name]. You see, I’m transgender, and [I say that Em is short for Emerson but you can say what you want.]

[I’m not exactly transgender as in FtM, or female-to-male transsexual .I’m transgender as in FtA, or female-to-androgyne. That basically means that I’m completely androgynous, and that I don’t wish to identify with either gender, because the gender I identify with is technically in-between male and female.] *or you can just explain what transgender means*

And yes, this does mean that I go by different pronouns than most people would think. This part isn’t the part that I’m pushing most, since it just confuses people. But it would help a lot with the dysphoria if you at least tried. And trying is good enough. Basically, my preferred pronouns are gender-neutral. To be specific, I prefer xe. And this is how it’s used: Xe laughed. I called xyr. Xyr eyes are blue. That is xyrs. Xe likes xyrself. [Pronounced zee, zer, zers] It’s pretty simple, once you get the hang of it. But if it’s too confusing, I’m fine with male pronouns.

But all you really have to do is at least try to call me Em, and try to use gender-neutral pronouns, or use male pronouns. Being called by my birth name all the time doesn’t help with the dysphoria at all. It’s okay if you slip up or anything, people do that a lot. But it would mean a lot if you at least tried.

Oh, and if you don’t know what dysphoria is in reference to this, since most people don’t, it means a strong disconnection from yourself because your mind feels one way but your body is another. It’s one of the worst feelings in the spectrum of human emotions.

If you want more information on androgynes, here’s a link: http://gender.wikia.com/wiki/Androgyne

And more about the gender-neutral pronouns:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_pronoun#Modern_solutions

Thank you so much for your understanding. :) 

See you in class!

So basically when you email your teachers about this, you just have to tell them that you go by a certain name and tell them to use certain pronouns. If you’d like you could include links, like I did. I was the first transgender student to come out in my high school, so I had a lot to explain. I also had a lot to explain since I’m FtA, not FtM, which is what most people know about.

Also make a point to see the teachers before class starts, such as the morning before school starts, or the passing time right before their class.

And do not forget to double check what their email is. I spelled my culinary teacher’s email wrong and she never got it. I also hadn’t checked with her, so she called out my birth name and I wanted to hide under the desk.

Good luck with your coming out guys!

Love, Emerson <3