With Halloween coming up this is a perfect time to post this story. On October 31st it will be the 20 year anniversary when I unofficially came out at work. This was up in downtown Oakland, in the SF Bay Area, six months after I began as a programmer at a software company (which I still work for 20 years later). By that point (October, 1989) I'd been on HRT for 11 months, my facial electrolysis was all done and I'd been in gender therapy for five months.

When I'd heard that costumes and a Halloween party at work was a tradition at my workplace, I figured it would be the ultimate way to give everybody a preview without letting the cat out of the bag. NOBODY recognized me that day until I told them who it was. The flow of compliments about how good I looked (some even said I looked better as a woman!) lasted all day long. Three days I took the RLT letter from my therapist to my boss' boss saying I was a TS woman and ready to start living full time as Christine.

To make a short story very short, I was allowed to be myself at work. And here I am 20 years later, a valued senior software engineer, and I still love my work! You can read more background on the story here at http://www.glamazon.net (my website) where you'll also find lots of info about my transition, loads of photos and TS/TG resources.

Hugs,

Christine

P.S. Here's the costume I wore that day on 10/31/1989:

That is awsome, I'm so glad things worked out so well for you!

Wow, you look great! I was going to post my own topic on the topic but I'm glad to hear somebody has used this excuse before. My good friend hooked me up with a good section of her wardrobe and I'm really excited to wear my first getup out in public tomorrow. It's going to be really cold so I can't show off as much leg as you got to, but I got my hair, brows and nails done, then going in for a MAC consultation tomorrow before I show up to party. I had ordered a sportsbra that holds a bottle of wine but it looks like it won't get here in time... oh well, I'm sure I'll end up using it quite a bit down the line!

A little girl asked me the other day if I was a girl (while I was with said friend) and absolutely made my day. I'm repeating myself but DAMN I'm really excited and I'll be sure to let ya'll know how it goes after it goes!

Karen, tell them you'll be glad to do oral on them. All they need to do is wait for a minute when you get your dental drill and some oil of cloves.

What did I dress up as?

I snapped this after getting home from the party.
I ended up turning it into a myspace graphic.

Fifty-one isn't so bad if you take care of yourself!

Nice, Christine!

It was amazing going as myself for the first time. Multiple people commented on how natural/comfortable I looked (and was). Also, I had asked my mom what my name would have been if I was born a girl and THREE separate people of their own accord started calling me that, and that's all I was getting (from the girls) by the end of the night. I walked in on a room of girls talking and they were like,"Oh, it's just you." Hah. Lastly and most importantly, I ended up hooking up with a girl I had known for a few months and over the past few weeks have seen more of (on Monday she came out to LA and we walked down Hollywood handing out sandwiches to the homeless - her idea). She's a really special lady, and I think she's more than fine with my other self... I mean that's who she originally hooked up with anyway, and we 'skirt' around the topic every so often. When we went out to replenish the beer supply that night she edged me on to act totally in character (because I wasn't using my fem voice, which I have been practicing the past few months) and the cashier asked me why I wasn't dressed up. I told him I was the Hulk and just wasn't angry right now. =)

Anywho... pic!

I use to dress up on Holloween untill I had to run from some drunk friends that said I looked good enough to do oral.
That took the fun out of it.
But I use to love that night more than Christmas.

OMG, Christine, I bet there wasn't a single saggy pair of pants in the office that day. You looked fabulous.

Hi Christine (& Everybody),

It's been a week and a half since Halloween. So what did you dress up as? Did you have any adventures?

Personally, I went to a friend's party as a wicked old witch (virtually no costume necessary...)

Best,
Melody