Transcript

AMO KING

My name is Amo. I am the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Project Officer at The Open University in Wales. And that’s a role I’ve taken on recently, but I’m also the Chair of The Open University Trans Staff Network. And so, that’s what I want to talk about first and my experience as a trans member of staff during the pandemic and hybrid working.

So, obviously, working in our homes, that gave me a bit more space in terms of how I wanted to dress and maybe a little more aggressive of a haircut. And I think, speaking to members of my network, that’s been a common experience. And the people have had the space to experiment a bit more and present themselves and move in the world in a way that’s a bit more close to what feels natural to them.

But obviously, coming out of the intense lockdown and back into hybrid working models, people are then taking their self-discovery, and their comfort, and the changes that they’ve perhaps made in their lives back into the working environment. And obviously, that then potentially presents challenges in terms of access, in terms of, say, access to toilets that people feel comfortable using, also interactions with colleagues maybe that they hadn’t seen for a while.

So, for me, I’m so lucky with The Open University in Wales. We’ve got a really super friendly, close, inclusive community here. So, I’ve not had a massive problem with that personally, but I know for colleagues in other areas of the university, perhaps it’s been more of a challenge.

So, in terms of what workplaces could do to accommodate that, it’s really thinking broadly about trans inclusion; about the availability of resources and facilities like toilets and things like that; about basic training so that everyone feels comfortable interacting and using different pronouns and things like that and so that it’s not such a kind of a thing that people will worry about, well, will I be accepted? Can I go back into this space and interact with people? How to negotiate that.

So, yeah, definitely something that is really interesting to think about, and particularly in the context of the shift between working in home, and then back into the workplace, and that point of transition, if you like, back into our workplace communities.

So, I’m going to speak a bit about my experience as a trans member of staff. So, during the pandemic, I actually shifted and asked my colleagues to use he/him pronouns for me, which they were super generous and receptive to.

And also within my home environment, I was able to definitely dress 100% as I wanted to. I didn’t need to worry about how people were going to perceive me, like passing me or meeting new strangers in a workplace context. So, that gave a massive sense of freedom.

I think interacting as well, online, there’s a certain amount of control that you have an agency over, how you’re looking on that screen. And when we move back into a 3D world and interactions a bit more organically, there’s not necessarily that sense of control. I think, for me personally, my perception was more-- people maybe found it easier to adjust to the pronouns when it was just a one-to-one interaction.

And then, when you’re back in a context maybe with cis men, by which I mean men who identified as male at birth and continue to identify that way, there’s a comparison that potentially comes in. And so, I found that maybe people struggled a little bit more just to hold in their head what I’d asked for in the context of why you’re not like those guys, which is fine, and that’s beautiful, and it’s part of diversity.

But for me, that was maybe a bit of a hurdle to be like, oh well, I was in this safe bubble of where I had complete control. And I went back into this, and how am I going to negotiate that and retain my confidence in that space?

And I know speaking to other members of the trans staff network, it’s a bit of a common experience in terms of people being able to have the freedom to settle into their own comfort zone really with themselves, but then having to bring that back into a workplace community, and how to do that smoothly, and the support that they maybe needed from line managers and other colleagues to do that.

So, for me, I’m super lucky I work in the Cardiff office, and we’ve got lovely accessible toilets. I could get to a toilet on every floor if I want to. It’s delightful, but I know that other colleagues, maybe it’s a bit more difficult for them to find access to facilities that feel comfortable, where they’re not kind of thinking, oh, is somebody going to see me going in here, and they think I’m in the wrong place. So, that’s something that’s been fantastic.

And definitely thinking of employers in general, just giving a bit of thought to how people can have access to all of those facilities in the workplace, in an environment where they don’t have to second guess is somebody’s going to think I’m in the wrong place. So, if you can do gender neutral toilets, it’s a gift.

Also, just I’m really lucky. In my context, it’s quite a small workplace community within The Open University in Wales. It’s about 190 staff, so that’s plausibly enough intimacy that you can know everyone by name. And so, for me, that’s been massively beneficial because people know me, and really, there’s this community support from colleagues.

Obviously, like in a wider, bigger workplace, you may be interacting with more strangers, so that could potentially be a bit of a flash point. So, in that case, just some trans awareness training so people what-- kind of a set up for success, really, and knowing how to interact with people because, majority of the people, best will in the world, they’re trying to do their best, but it’s just having the comfort of knowing what to say. So, if workplaces can think about providing that, then that’s also fantastic.

I can think of an example of a meeting where somebody had introduced me and been through like every possible pronoun under the sun, and panicked. So it’s not something that I would take offense at at all, but in terms of meeting new people and being introduced to them, it’s not the best announcement because you’re like, this person is different.

So, that had happened to me. But I was able to speak to my line manager about it and say like, oh, it was really awkward, and they were super supportive. And I think, yeah, just having people in line management positions who’ve got a bit of awareness and empathise basically, because it’s something that happens. People will say slightly the wrong thing. And it’s not a big deal, but it’s just supporting people so they don’t feel like they’re the problem, really.

Another aspect that I would like to speak about in terms of my experience is my experience as a member of the wider LGBT community and a queer person. An aspect of my queerness, particularly, is that I practice ethical non-monogamy, which is essentially where you have the potential to have more than one romantic partner, but everybody is aware of that, and it’s a consensual arrangement.

So, I have two partners. I live with a partner, and I have a long-distance partner as well. And during the pandemic, obviously, total nightmare, unable to see each other for months at a time. And really, hybrid working has been a massive gift in terms of the potential to actually work from another location and spend quality time with that partner.

I would view it as an alternative family structure. And so that’s the level of importance for me, that that holds, and to be able to of spend time making space for that relationship. Particularly in terms of the pandemic, although the restriction aspect has now come to a close, there’s still potential for scarcity panic because plans are made, and then there’s a disruption of somebody gets COVID. And we don’t know if we’ll be able to follow through on plans.

So, actually that flexibility from an employer point of view and be able to go and work from another location is hugely valuable just in terms of giving some sense of security. And I think it speaks to also the wider mental health challenges around the pandemic, not just in terms of in the thick of it with the fear of infections or the rest of it, but now moving on from that, just how we deal with continued disruptions, and unpredictability, and a lack of control. So it ties in together with a mental health anxiety angle as well.