Jill's Story: Becoming Her True Self at Sanofi
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We are building a workplace where our people can thrive, but they can only do so if they feel able to be their true selves. As we continue to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month 2021, we hear from Jill Wuyts who found the support she needed to become her real self.
Coming out as a transgender woman at work was hard. I didn’t
know how to act, how the people around me would react, or how it would affect
relationships with my colleagues; there were so many questions and unknowns.
During my transition, however, there was a moment when I couldn’t keep quiet
any longer.
It was the first time the Sanofi team in Belgium had faced
this situation. As soon as people knew, I immediately felt so much good will
from everybody, especially my close colleagues and management; everyone was
ready to help me become the person I wanted to be. Coming out in Sanofi ended
up being so much easier than I had imagined. I haven’t received a single
negative comment about being transgender.
I was so happy everyone finally knew, but I hadn’t realized
how many practical issues we had to solve during my transition.
One of the main challenges was the use of my old name, also
known as the death name. Everyone tried to use my new name, but still seeing it
on every document was harder than I could have imagined. With some research and
procedural changes, my old name slowly disappeared out of my life, and I even
changed my initials.
There was also knowing which bathroom to use. After being on
hormone treatment for a while, the male bathrooms became an increasingly weird
place for me to be, so we made everyone aware of what was going on during a
transition period, and in a few weeks I was able to use the female bathroom.
I am writing this story one week after my surgery. I’m back
at work and happy to be in the place where I finally became the person I know I
was always meant to be.