Guest Blog Post: Kay from PwC

Hi I’m Kay, I’ve been with the firm for just over 3 years now, I work in the Technology & Investment Solutions Delivery team as a software tester and I’m trans and non-binary. I joined Shine pretty much as soon as I joined the firm, but I started getting more involved during the first lockdown, and met other colleagues in the network through the virtual Coffee Roulette sessions. I was invited to join the Shine on: Womxn+ group, but I explained that although the group is open to non-binary people, I didn’t personally feel comfortable using that space. It was this conversation that led to the creation of the Shine On: Gender Diversity working group, which I co-lead. Our goal is to give gender diverse staff a safe place to socialise, make improvements to the firm’s process and policies in respect of transgender and non-binary people, and provide allies opportunities to learn and be active.

● How I found a balance between work/life as a member of the LGBTQ+ community

I think if you’re your authentic self in the workplace, you’re always engaging in a type of activism; just by existing you’re creating visibility for the community. Not everyone has that luxury for many reasons, but I’m fortunate enough to feel safe being out in my professional life now, and I want to use that privilege to educate people and make PwC

a better place for trans and non-binary people to work at.

● How PwC has handled diversity in the workplace. (Have they made you feel welcomed, proud to be out, and safe?)

My line manager discreetly told everyone in my current team my pronouns ahead of my start date, obviously with my permission. This avoided a lot of messy and awkward interactions in the beginning and made me feel really comfortable with bringing my whole self to work.

● How do you help people struggling to understand your LGBTQ+ identity?

I guess it really depends on what they’re having trouble with understanding, but I generally try to reframe things into experiences that non-LGBTQ+ people can understand. For example when people ask why I wear makeup despite not being a woman, I point out that a man wearing makeup is still a man. It’s very simplistic, but I think it challenges the notion that some people have about gender expression and gender identity being the same.

● How did you choose your name when you transitioned?

My name is actually pretty close to my birth name, and I’d been using ‘Kay’ as a nickname for quite a while before I took the steps to get it legally changed. Also I lived in Japan for a little while in my twenties and ‘Kay’ is nice and easy to pronounce in Japanese phonology. My middle name is ‘George’ which I chose because it was my grandad’s name, and he was the most wonderful person.

● Best Pride month memory

There’s been a lot of negative press about Manchester Pride this summer which I personally think is absolutely justified. It’s been a pretty cynical, commercialised event since I was a teenager, and it definitely wasn’t always welcoming for trans people, those on low incomes or people with disabilities, just to name a few. The fact that they cancelled the parades this year but thought it was appropriate to have a paid music festival is pretty telling of the organisers’ priorities. For me Pride month just reminds me how far we still have to go - sorry that’s such a downer answer!

● Best coming out story (example: someone they came out to and it was perfect from start to finish)

I think this actually happened when I first joined my current team at PwC! I explained to a colleague that I was non-binary at a social event, and she asked if there was any other language she should avoid when talking to/about me besides gendered pronouns. Nobody had ever really asked me before but it made me so happy and I really appreciated the extra thought and initiative.