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Discussion on: The incredible weight of being a trans woman in tech

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Stephanie David

Hello Penelope. Thank you for sharing your experience being a trans woman in tech. I'm a cis woman who came to IT as a third career. And I certainly understand how difficult it is to be a woman - indeed an older woman - in tech. I have had friendships/non-friendships with only two trans women, and I'm not going to generalize. My observation: as "men" they progressed very well in their careers - one was a Java developer, who looked down on anyone who were in lesser tech positions - I was a mere front-end developer. She never let in different ideas from minions like myself. I was jealous, I guess, as she got as far as she did because she had a male tech experience, a wife who did the domestic stuff allowing him/her time to code, 2 loving daughters, a big house in a trendy location, and a grossly huge salary. I was pleased to see the back of her when she left the organisation, but my career nose-dived, largely due to the influence she had on the decision makers. It's only thanks to my union and some serious grievances that I recovered and can retire this year with a fairly decent final-salary-based pension. All the best, Stephanie