"I didn't know how to tell people so I didn't," says 34-year-old Michael Roberts.
"The death of my mum in 2016 made me realise that life is short and I should either make the decision now, or potentially look back on my life in 40 years and realise I had missed a huge part of being me."
The software guru knew from the age of 10, growing up in Arbroath that he ought to be female, he says. But it took two decades for him to tell anyone else.
Now he is advising one the biggest companies in the world how to support transgender employees
Roberts, a software development manager in Amazon's Edinburgh development centre, has helped the firm come up with rules about how workers are treated when they transition.
The guidelines, just introduced, explain to managers and fellow workers the process of transition, how to talk to someone transitioning from male to female or the reverse, and the best language to use.
The company says it benefits from having a diverse workforce and wants to support transgender employees.
Although he has started hormone treatment, and begun developing female characteristics, Michael still presents as male. But on November 3rd, Michael will no longer exist and, following facial feminisation surgery, will start a new life as Sophie.
As per the new guidance, Amazon is giving him time off work "to adjust to being a professional woman", he explains.
"I discussed my transition with Amazon immediately after starting hormone treatment in 2017.
"When I announced my transition to several hundred people at Amazon, the support was overwhelming. I was immediately invited to join the Amazon Women in Engineering group in Edinburgh and made to feel welcome."
Michael was already chair of Glamazon, the company's internal 'affinity group' for LGBT+ workers, when he rewrote the rulebook on trans issues, borrowing guidelines already in use in America.
He says the new guidelines will help make it more normal for people to transition in the workplace. At the same time they can answer a lot of the questions people have about trans issues, taking the pressure off people like him to explain themselves. They also clarify some of the language involved.
"This toolkit helps employees transitioning, their managers and their colleagues," he says. "It provides reassurance to trans employees, information about what being trans means, and reiterates policies and guidance that already exist to answer some of the more common questions."
These include, he says, queries such as what pronouns to use to describe someone, and what name, what shouldn't be asked about (asking too much about the details of surgery risks falling "outside normal professional boundaries", he says), what bathrooms should be used and how to get further support.
In a range of jobs in the hospitality, utilities and financial sectors he has never been subjected to hate crime or transphobic bullying, Michael says.
However he knows he is fortunate. Not every workplace is as accommodating and inclusive as his own. "According to LGBT+ charity Stonewall, half of transgender employees hae been so afraid of discrimination at work they have hidden the fact they are LGBT+ in the workplace.
"As a consequence of harassment and bullying a quarter of trans people say they feel obliged to change their jobs, whilst 42 per cent are not living freely in their preferred gender because they fear it could threaten their job."
Suki Sandhu, Founder and chief executive of OUTstanding – a group which helps businesses be supportive of LGBT+ rights – welcomed the Amazon guidance. "Living in an equal society means freedom from discrimination for all”, added Suki Sandhu, Founder & CEO, OUTstanding. “It’s fantastic to see an influential, global company like Amazon promoting gender awareness initiatives."
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