The Guide To Being Transgender

Coming Out in School

I've already touched on coming out a little bit before, but this is specifically in school. There are many ways to go about this, but I'm telling you how I specifically did it.

Every new school year, I e-mail my teachers before the first day of school and explain everything to them. I let them know my preferred name and pronouns, and assure them that it's safe for them to use those in front of my parents.

Then, on the first day of school, I reinforce this by going up to each teacher and bringing up the e-mail, and basically restating all the information that was in it.

Some time during the first week of school, I also contacted my guidance counselor and talked to her about it all. This step only needed to be completed once, rather than annually, because (at least in my school) your counselor is the same all throughout your school years, only changing when you move up to a new school.

That's pretty much all I did. It also helps to go to your school's yearbook coordinator, at least to ask if they can use your preferred name and pronouns in the book. My school requires a parent-signed note to be handed in, so I'll get that in my senior year, but unless I'm actually getting a yearbook, it's not super important to me.

It also helps to be aware of your county or school's policies when dealing with trans students. That can help you make sure it's safe to come out. It can also help you make sure your rights are in order.

I hope this helped at all! Good luck coming out in school!