"I feel more compelled than ever before to be visible" - Senior diversity Manager at Siemens Ben speaks about his experience as a trans man in the workplace

I am Ben, a now 40-year-old trans man from the UK. I am also Senior diversity Manager at Siemens Financial Services programme managing our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives for our global business.

Ben Armes

Three years ago, I wrote about my early journey at Siemens as a trans man as my career here coincided with the very beginning of my medical transition. What a journey that was! I learned a lot about myself and my interaction with the world. Particularly, how the world interacts with how it perceives you from a gender perspective. A lot has changed for me personally, professionally and society has shifted in significant ways. So, I thought it was time I revisited this given that I feel an ever-greater need for Allies. I wanted to write about this right now for Trans Day of Visibility because I feel more compelled than ever before to be visible.

“Be the change you want to see…”

What has changed for me? Well, I have met a wonderful woman, Ali, and our relationship has gone from strength to strength over the last three years. We now live together in a lovely little picturesque cottage with our puppy Hugo. For us both, this is an incredible achievement due to our extremely humble beginnings. Both of our careers are taking off, and we are currently competing to be the highest achiever in the household. It keeps us focussed and we grateful every day for what we have been able build together. None of this would have ever been possible if it was not for being able to embrace my authentic self at work and having a strong support network. I spent so many years hiding who I was and it was only when I was bold enough to be me that I really started to excel. It was not always this way and I have had my share of trans phobia and hatred. But I am one of the lucky ones. My journey is not the story for many in my community, there are huge numbers of the community are thrown out of our families and refused work based on our identity.

When I came out eight years ago, I did so because it finally felt like a safe time to do so. It now feels as though we have jumped in our DeLorean and woke up in a far less equitable time. Our community is very much being weaponised and we are being relentlessly used as a political punch bag. Our young people are struggling to see a light at the end of the tunnel and we still have one of the highest teen suicide rates as a result. In the UK our Prime Minister, Rishi Sunack, has publicly stated that he wants to remove our protections from the Equality Act 2010. It is rhetoric like this and the thousands of negative articles posted by mainstream media that is giving rise to hate crime. Just a few weeks ago Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old trans girl in the UK was murdered by her school friends.

Along with the endless articles and rhetoric we see a tremendous amount of misinformation being distributed willy nilly. Trans people have existed and been transitioning (both medically and socially) for centuries, the current outrage is because we are finally becoming visible, no longer hiding away for the discomfort of others. We have a fundamental human right to live our lives and be seen. When it was ‘wrong’ to be left-handed, we had low volumes of people identifying as ‘left-handed’ but those rates went up dramatically when we stopped punishing people for it. Funny that! We see useless lies stating that the NHS are rushing people through transitioning when many people are waiting over 5 years just to have their initial assessment appointment.

My community are no longer having a great time in the UK (or elsewhere) and our rights are under attack from our own government. Are we going to face what our American siblings have had to face whereby we have to use the public toilet for my assigned gender at birth? I have friends who have their bags packed ready to leave at the drop of a hat. How can that be in a country that has always prided itself on its diversity?

Now is the time to become an active Ally, over recent years Allies have worked so hard to understand the issues faced by the LGBTQIA+ Community. My previous call for help was around the power to change the way that people experience the world by simply standing side by side. Things have become so difficult for the trans community for all the reasons laid out above, we need for our supporters to protest and help to ensure our rights are equal and protected.

“Be the change you want to see!!”