#I had considered once interviewing for the agency DOGE took over and obliterated

[so-i-did-this-thing]

I hope you dont mind me asking, what kind if stuff do you do for a job?

Do you work in a safe environment for trans people?

I work in civic technology, which is the concept of using tech to make the government kinder and more efficient for the citizens it serves. I have been a Service Designer, Product Owner, and Product Manager. These are all "real" jobs you can Google to learn more about.

Right now, I do this at the US federal level. (I am not a fed, but I work for them as a contractor.) While my company is generally safe & affirming, because of the current regime, I am doubtful I will ever get a "public trust clearance" again (this is not security clearance, but it is the govt's way to decide if you are trustworthy/honorable enough to serve) due to being trans. I can NOT be stealth here, due to all the background checks and interviewing that goes on (your family and friends get calls).

So, once my current gig with the agency I'm assigned to expires, I am likely done with fed stuff. It is clear my company, as affirming as they are internally, will not push back if I mysteriously get denied clearance. Or retain me if my presence as key personnel on a contract puts winning it at risk. I literally lectured my CEO about my risk landscape the other week. 🙃

I previously came from the municipal level (I worked for a well-known city) and again, everyone was very affirming and respectful. I involved trans people in my research and did a lot of good work, from improving emergency operations to launching food pantry home delivery, to getting potholes filled faster. I even got a multi-stall gender-neutral bathroom installed at City Hall, in the state of Florida, no less (alas, it had to be closed down when the state governor went on his transphobic rampage, and luckily I had already left by then).

Civic tech is interesting and fulfilling work, but you need a strong personality to cut through bullshit -- I frequently would be at odds with fire chiefs, commissioners, and crusty old accountants and had to either persuade or bully them to affect any sort of progress. Luckily, folks tell me I am both a charismatic and intimidating man. 😅

Again, it was impossible to truly be stealth because of background checks. When I had to take a polygraph, I was asked (by an ex-CIA guy to boot) if anything about me would "embarass" the city. I said I was trans and that my credit score (at the time) was in the shitter. The dude said, "as long as you're working on the latter, you're fine, and no one gives a crap about the former."

I did not have to be publicly trans, but I chose to. I even let the city do a TDOV feature on me on social media, which was a bit scary because that put a target on my back, even in 2019.

Did I still get the stink eye from some employees? Yup. I even had to sic HR on one. But overall, your average civil servant (maybe not federal anymore) tends to lean left, and civic tech itself is a very, VERY queer-friendly field. (Again, not so much federal anymore. I would suggest folks interested here stick to state & municipal work.)

I hope that helps. If you are interested in tech, as long as you are in fields where the purpose is *helping* people, you are bound to find a lot of trans people and allies.