The challenges of Transitioning in the workplace.

You might be wondering what this post has to do with any business application?! Please DO take the time to read it through to the end as there are many businesses already asking what they should do in this situation and how they are going to go about it.

My name is Michael Coote and I love my father very much. This post is going to surprise many people and I ask you to read it through to the end.

Dad is 91 years old and is fully transitioning from being a man to being a woman. He has shared with me that, from the age of 5, he has felt that he was born in the wrong body. He was a ships captain and always presented himself as a "man's man"...and now this!

This is not a "fad" for him, nor does he express any homosexual tendencies - he "simply" states (there is no simple about it!) that he believes that he should be a woman and not a man. He is undergoing hormonal therapy and is under medical care and supervision here in the UK.

I am writing this post with the full awareness and permission of my Dad. He is not ashamed of who he is and who he is becoming. I am not "going behind his back" in any way. It's important for me to state this clearly.

So, why am I writing it?

* If there are those who are struggling with their own sexuality and gender, I really do want to be a voice of positive expression.

* If there are those who are vehemently against this - for whatever reason - I do want to be a voice of reasonableness and love.

I am a man who has a deeply personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. I know what the word of God declares about men and women and I stand on the authenticity of the Word of God. I have shared my faith with my dad and he has heard the truth of what I believe scripture teaches (I was a full-time ordained Baptist Pastor for many years with a degree in Theology and a Seminary education as well.)

You see, I love my dad…and this continues to produce such a conundrum (at times) in my head and heart. Dad, for many years in his life, was a hard and uncompromising father. My mother knew about him and his real and earnest desire to be a woman and, whilst she did not always enjoy what had become of their marriage, she loved her husband / my Dad and was determined to stand by him as much as she could.

My mother passed away almost 6 years ago...and I miss her every day of my life.

And this is where my challenge with this situation becomes more difficult.

As Dad has softened and taken on more and more of his female personality, so he has softened and become much more warm and feminine in his manner of response...far more loving and gentle!

In the early days of this news in our family, he/she was attempting to “mother” me and whilst this is no longer the case, the complexity and range of emotional responses from many in my family remain. He is my parent, my earthly Dad who now fully identifies as Elizabeth and I will continue to love and respect her/him until the end of her/his earthly days.

I am not asking you to agree or disagree with me or with what my Elizabeth feels that she/he "just has" to do. This is complex and I know that it has helped me to become far less judgemental and far more loving to those who do not "fit" into any box that the world deems appropriate.

As I end this post, I want to repeat something that I stated a while back:

* If there are those who are struggling with their own sexuality and gender, I really do want to be a voice of positive expression.

* If there are those who are vehemently against this - for whatever reason - I do want to be a voice of reasonableness and love.

I love my heavenly father and I love my earthly parent…and yes, I love Elizabeth.

I really want to be used as a voice of reason and clarity in the midst of a genuinely complex and emotional situation. 🧡🧡💛💛

Mike