The Coming Out Story

Here we go, so yeah, I came out to my dojo through Facebook. I messaged one of the owners first to be sure I had a solid foothold of support, but then I moved forward in a big way and messaged a lot of the core players there en masse. Let’s just say they are all amazing and I am lucky to have comrades in jiu jitsu like those at Magic BJJ.

This was the first step, but in some ways the most important, as this is a group of people  I’ve suffered, fought, and learned with for years. I told them about being trans femme, that my name is now Sami, use she/her/hers pronouns, and have started my transition. I cannot be more proud of their support and understanding. I cannot be more proud of the time I have spent with them. I cannot be more proud to have started this here and now.

Next was my job. My manager has been nothing but a dream. He has expressed absolute support and has talked to our director and other managers. We are working with Human Resources to build a plan for telling the rest of the team in a responsible manner. The HR person was nothing but polite and enthusiastic. It is more than fantastic. It is more than wonderful. I feel empowered beyond measure.

Then I came out to my parents…

awkward.

But they didn’t explode, say anything too bad, or try to institutionalize me, so that’s at least a thing. And I love them. So that’s cool.