Pride and Pain: One Trans Woman’s Experience Inside and Outside Work
As told to LGBT Great. Name changed to protect anonymity.
“I don’t watch the news anymore,” Sarah says softly, her voice steady but distant. “It hurts too much.”
For Sarah, a mid-level professional in the financial services industry, and a transgender woman, this Pride Month feels complicated. Behind the rainbow banners and celebration lies a quiet grief, of what’s been lost, and what’s still at stake.
“I transitioned late in life,” she shares. “It cost me some of my closest family relationships. There are people I love who no longer speak to me. And yet, I couldn’t continue pretending to be someone I wasn’t.”
The world outside hasn’t made it easier. “The Supreme Court ruling in the UK, saying a Gender Recognition Certificate doesn’t determine legal sex, it shook me,” she says. “I felt erased.”
She pauses. “It feels like every week, there’s a new headline. Trans people being banned from the U.S. military again. States pushing laws that strip away our rights. People think this doesn’t impact those of us in the UK, but it does. Because it signals that we’re not seen as equal anywhere.”
Recently, Sarah was verbally harassed on the subway. “A man yelled at me for how I looked. I got off two stops early. It ruined my day, but it’s not even the worst that’s happened to people like me.”
She’s also struggled with healthcare access. “Even getting the right documentation, it's a battle. It wears you down. There were long stretches where my mental health really suffered. It felt like I had nowhere to go.”
And yet, amid all this, there is light. For Sarah, that light is work.
“My workplace has become my constant. My strength,” she says with a small smile. “I feel safe here. I don’t think I will leave.”
That safety hasn’t happened by accident. “There’s a trans-inclusive employee network that I’m part of. I’ve got a buddy who checks in regularly, it’s not just about work, sometimes we just talk about the weekend. It makes all the difference.”
Sarah uses the gender-neutral facilities. “I choose to, because I don’t want to make anyone else feel uncomfortable. But I know I have the option. That means something.”
More importantly, she feels seen by leadership. “There are senior leaders who are visible allies. They open up conversations, make space for our stories, and never make it feel like a tick-box exercise. That authenticity matters.”
Her organisation recently reaffirmed its partnership with LGBTQ+ charities and other support platforms like LGBT Great. “It’s not just words on a website,” Sarah notes. “They’re funding education, commissioning research, and amplifying our voices.”
Through that network, she was also connected with a mentor, another trans leader from outside the firm. “She’s helping me develop my leadership skills and, honestly, my self-worth. I’m learning how to lead as myself, not despite who I am, but because of it.”
When her manager invited her to speak as part of a research roadshow on allyship, Sarah hesitated. “Then I thought, if not me, who?”
This Pride Month, Sarah is not celebrating with a parade. “But I am showing up every day as myself. And that is radical.”
Her message to others? “We’re more than the pain we carry. We’re leaders, mentors, teammates, and friends. If you create a space where we can thrive, we will.”
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