Trans Day of Visibility 2021
Trans Day of Visibility is an annual event dedicated to celebrating Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people globally as well as raising awareness around Gender Identity and what it’s like to be Trans or Gender Non-Conforming.
At ASOS we actively celebrate everyone being who they are right now and in the future
In this post, we’ll touch on some of the initiatives we’ve introduced in Tech and across the business to support our people to be whoever they want to be. We’ll also hear from two of our ASOSers in Tech who have shared with us what Trans Day of Visibility means to them.
Transition at Work Approach: For those who are transitioning or thinking about it, we have a Transition at Work Approach which is available for anyone to access and read and contains lots of helpful information and support links. We also encourage people to reach out to our People Experience (PX) team with any questions that they may have.
Gender Identity Categories: We have recently updated the Gender Identity Categories in our internal people management system, to reflect a wider representation of Gender Identities. These currently include; Transgender, Non-Binary, Gender Fluid and Agender as well as Male and Female.
Pronouns: We use pronouns to describe someone’s gender identity and sometimes you don’t always know what this is from a name. A name like Alex might not be easy for us to recognise and in some cultures there are names which are gender neutral. Pronouns also don’t always depict a binary gender, not everyone is Male or Female but might prefer to be referred to as They or Them. It’s becoming increasingly more common to see pronouns in email signatures and LinkedIn profiles, something that many of our ASOSers are now adopting. Vice President Kamala Harris includes pronouns in their Twitter Bio too, as you don’t have to be Trans or Non-Binary to include preferred pronouns in an email signature. Nix C, our Lead Principal Software Engineer in Tech explains why this simple addition is so important:
“Not everyone uses pronouns that match the way they look or sound to you, or what you might assume from their name. If we all state our pronouns upfront, there’s no confusion! It also normalises talking about pronouns. Imagine what it means to someone who doesn’t identify as he or she, or someone who is transitioning, to feel that their gender identity is recognised and accepted by their colleagues. It can mean the world.”
What does Trans Day of Visibility mean to you?
Daisy S— Tech Support Team Lead
Pronouns: She/Her
“Before transitioning I was always worried that this would hold me back from my goals in my personal and professional life. Since my transition I have been able to exceed and accelerate past my goals and achieve more!
Trans Day of Visibility means to me a day of celebration and remembrance of the people who have opened doors and have fought for trans equal rights. In the space of 10–15 years acceptance and equality has moved forward by miles which makes me extremely glad to see that becoming your true authentic self is now becoming easier year on year! No one should be scared to be themselves.”
Nix C — Lead Principal Software Engineer
Pronouns: They/Them
“I identify as GNC — gender non-conforming. I tend to move around on the gender spectrum in how I feel, act and present.
I’ll be honest, my sexual orientation is an enigma even to me. I identify as pansexual though, which means I am sexually or emotionally attracted to people regardless of what gender they were assigned at birth or how they identify now. I think it’s important to point out that this is often how bisexual people feel too but I prefer pansexual because it’s an outward statement of support for the people who don’t fit into the gender binary.
Does this all mean that I’ve lived a kind of Libertine life full of wild abandon? Nope. I was in a heteronormative relationship for 24 years and I have four beautiful children. Also, since I’m not exactly straight and I’m not exactly gay, I usually feel like I don’t belong in either group, so I end up kind of nowhere. It’s not quite the image they make out in TV shows and movies.
So, this month it was also International Women’s Day (IWD). Did you know that IWD started in 1911? At that time women were oppressed. They had no rights. They weren’t allowed to vote. They weren’t allowed to hold public office. They were scorned and mistreated by society, the police, the legal system and the governments for speaking out. Yet every year, women — and their supporters — all over the world, came together to protest women’s rights. Trans Day of Visibility is our opportunity to do the same for trans people and hopefully it won’t take 110 years to get there.”
Daisy is a Tech Support Lead in End User Computing. In her spare time she loves to travel, scuba dive, drink wine and Pepsi with friends whilst listening to manele music.
Nix is the Lead Principal Software Engineer. Outside of work they can usually be found hanging from a climbing wall, working on a campervan conversion or spending far too much time on Xbox.
