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I don't know if MO is the right place to ask such a question, but anyway it's my only hope to get an answer, and it's very important for me (not to say 'vital'); so let's try.

I'm at this time a Ph.D. student, and I plan to defend in the spring of 2018. I'm currently looking for a postdoc position for next year. I am, at this time, known as a man in the mathematical community, but I'm actually a trans woman, beginning my gender transition. I have two problems. Firstly, I will have to come out as transgender, in at most a few years, in the mathematical community, and I'm quite fearful about the consequences (for example, for my career). Secondly, I have to ensure before applying for a postdoc that in the country where I apply, I will be able to pursue my transition, I will be accepted as I am at the university, and that there won't be any major threat to my security (because of the policy of the country regarding trans people, for instance). For this reason, having contacts in these countries who are reaserchers in maths and are familiar with transidentity questions would be very helpful for me, as I have no other means to get the info I need.

So my first question is: are there, here, trans mathematicians who would be willing to talk with me, in private, about how they came out (if they had to) in the mathematical community, how it was accepted, what has been the consequences for their career, and more generally what was their experience as trans mathematicians? (I also have other specific questions like, for instance, how to deal with a change of your first name when you already have published under your former name?) Even if you're not trans, if you have information about all of this (if you know a trans mathematician for example), I would be interested.

My second question is: in the countries where I am interested in applying for a postdoc, that is Spain, the Czech Republic, Canada, the US, and Brazil, do you have any contacts, in the academic world, who are familiar with LGBT questions, and who could give me an idea about the situation of trans people in their country, and especially at the university? (In order for me to know if it's safe to apply there or not?)

If some of you are yourselves why I don't ask these questions directly to researchers of the universities where I want to apply: that's simply because it's not safe. Trans people have to face a lot of discrimination and you never know if speaking about your transidentity with someone you don't know is safe or not - that's the reason why I choosed to ask it anonymously here, first.

(You can contact me in private at rdm.v[at]yahoo[dot]com.)

psmears
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Rdmv
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    I am aware of some trans (women) users on academia.SE, in math(s)-related areas, but I am hesitant to name names. I do think that academia.SE would be both a more appropriate place for this question, and would give a better chance of reaching users who can give either lived or observed advice – Yemon Choi Nov 26 '17 at 00:12
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    Although this is not a question about research level mathematics which is usually the expectation here, I believe this question is very important. I do not have much to offer except to point out that most universities/departments have an explicit page where issues of equality are addressed. For example, the University of Oxford has the following page: https://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/ – Stanley Yao Xiao Nov 26 '17 at 00:12
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    @StanleyYaoXiao Thanks for your advice, I will try to find such pages for other universities. Although, of course, even if a given university has a good policy regarding trans people, that doesn't mean that it's the same for all researchers working there... – Rdmv Nov 26 '17 at 00:17
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    @YemonChoi Indeed, you should never disclose the identity of a trans person without their agreement. And I didn't know academia.SE, thanks for the advice, I will ask the question there. – Rdmv Nov 26 '17 at 00:21
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    It would be useful if you could indicate some route to contact you privately. Right now, "this user prefers to keep an air of mystery about them," so every response must be public. – Joseph O'Rourke Nov 26 '17 at 00:21
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    To add to Yemon Choi's response, there already is this question on academia.SE: Typical experiences of transgender people in academia? – Martin Sleziak Nov 26 '17 at 00:23
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    @JosephO'Rourke Done, I added an e-mail adress at the end of my question. Sorry for forgetting. – Rdmv Nov 26 '17 at 00:31
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    I am cisgender, but I know one trans man who's a math PhD student at a US university, and another mathematician (also at a US university) who knows a lot about trans issues and might be able to give you other contacts. You may contact me by email at gene.kopp@bristol.ac.uk. – Gene S. Kopp Nov 26 '17 at 00:33
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    OP is a professional mathematician asking for career advice from professional mathematicians, so her question is most appropriate for MO rather than academia.SE. Similar career-related questions have not been closed in the past. This question should be re-opened (and probably made community wiki). – Gene S. Kopp Nov 26 '17 at 01:05
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    Voting to reopen as well. Community Wiki is also a good idea. Good luck and remember that you will find a lot of helpful and supportive people even among "white male chauvinists" (by the modern liberal classification) like myself if you stay friendly and reasonable with them. Of course, you may still face problems but at least in the USA there are quite strong laws on your side and a lot of official LGBT organizations you can contact for support. – fedja Nov 26 '17 at 01:20
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    @Rdmv Perhaps you might be able to find some people who can help with your questions here: http://www.lgbtmath.org/ – Tyler Lawson Nov 26 '17 at 01:54
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    @TylerLawsonThanks soooo much! I was dreaming such a community exists but I didn't know it did. – Rdmv Nov 26 '17 at 01:57
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    @TylerLawson I'd suggest that you rewrite your comment as an answer. Then Rdmv can accept it as an answer, which will make it much more easily accessible, rather then having it buried in the morass of comments. – Joe Silverman Nov 26 '17 at 02:08
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    Tyler's answer is, I think, a good enough reason that this question should remain open: I did not know about that organization, and am glad to learn of it, and would not had the question been exported to academia.SE. (That said, a related question there, especially with links between them, could also be quite valuable.) – Theo Johnson-Freyd Nov 26 '17 at 03:19
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    @Rdmv I wish you the best of luck. I don't know what it's like to transition or to come out at the end of graduate school, so I can't answer your direct questions. My experience of American universities is that they are quite open and accepting. (But I recognize that white cis gays face a lot less discrimination, both subtle and overt, than do other marginalized groups.) I know personally a couple trans mathematicians. I'm going to assume that they have seen this post and reached out to you, but if that assumption is wrong then please let email me and I will ask them if I may put you in ... – Theo Johnson-Freyd Nov 26 '17 at 03:30
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    ... touch. As is likely also true for you, the trans mathematicians that I know are proud of their struggles and eager to advance trans causes and help other trans mathematicians, but also they are mathematicians first, members of marginalized communities second, so I don't just want to blast them with a "you're trans, therefore should focus on this MO post rather than research" email. – Theo Johnson-Freyd Nov 26 '17 at 03:35
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    @Rdmv I'm a trans woman working in math in the US. I'm sending you a message. – Autumn Kent Nov 26 '17 at 03:51
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    The following blog may be useful: https://leftytgirl.wordpress.com/ – Virgo Nov 26 '17 at 04:42
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    @TheoJohnson-Freyd Yes, I agree with you. At least two people contacted me, and now I also have got the contact of the association Spectra I didn't know, so I think that will be enough. But thank you very much for your proposal. – Rdmv Nov 26 '17 at 10:23
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    I think we should be wise enough to sometimes make exceptions for important questions that might technically be off-topic, and I think this question is one of those cases. Closing it doesn't really do much, and leaving it open might really help some people. Voting to reopen. – Noah Snyder Nov 26 '17 at 17:42
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    Regarding the old papers issue, MathSciNet staff can link publications by the same author under different names (so that when you click on either one of the names all the publications will come up). – D. Savitt Nov 26 '17 at 19:11
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    I don't have any practical information to contribute, but I'm sorry this is so hard and dangerous, and I hope you are able to find a satisfactory solution. – Paul Siegel Nov 26 '17 at 19:18
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    I agree with Noah Snyder, in that the question is off topic, that an exception should be made so as to gather useful responses, and that it should be left open to do so. I disagree with Noah Snyder in that it should be left open in perpetuity, and that there should be room for many exceptions. I think there should be few exceptions, and that this question should be closed soon so as to prevent more off-topic posts associated with this question. In particular, I am concerned about potential responses which are extremely negative. Gerhard "Two Answers Can Be Enough" Paseman, 2017.11.26. – Gerhard Paseman Nov 26 '17 at 20:50
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    Concerning name changes in publications, this is a standard problem with databases like MathSciNet (who are asked to cope with the fact that some women adopt their husband's name after marriage while continuing to publish: thus Ranee Gupta became R.K. Brylinski). The people who manage such databases are usually quite helpful if there is confusion. Anyway, I'm sympathetic to leaving the question open (for a limited time, in community-wiki format), having had struggles of my own about being gay. – Jim Humphreys Nov 26 '17 at 21:29
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    The following may be useful:

    1. https://blogs.ams.org/inclusionexclusion/2017/06/28/love-simeq-love-a-celebration-of-lgbt-mathematicians/

    2. http://www.ostem.org/

    3. http://lgbtphysicists.org/

    4. https://www.campusprideindex.org/

     – Vladimir Dotsenko Nov 27 '17 at 02:25
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    Forwarded this to a trans man who is working in an applied informatics research institute in Stuttgart Germany. – David Nov 27 '17 at 09:35
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    I strongly believe that this question should not be closed. It is a valid career advice question where maths-specific advice is being asked for. There are already examples like https://mathoverflow.net/questions/116309/the-non-traveling-mathematician-problem where the impact of personal life circumstances on one's career as a mathematician is discussed, and no one proposes to close those. – Vladimir Dotsenko Nov 27 '17 at 14:40
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    FWIW, my own first step with all job applications in the past was to consult pages like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory for up to date info on anti-discrimination laws. The next step was to go the website of the corresponding university and look at their policies (discrimination, bullying, dignity and respect), and also see if they have a network/alliance for LGBT students and staff members (this latter thing is not always crucial, but it is helpful to get some idea of the work environment). – Vladimir Dotsenko Nov 27 '17 at 14:43
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    I'm in the US, and I think that it wouldn't be an issue in the US or Canada, as long as you don't make it an issue. People care primarily about your work, and then how good you are to work with. I would suggest that you keep your first name, use a gender-changed version of it (Tom to Tomi for example), or at least keep the first initial - even if it requires a less-common spelling for the first initial (like Chris to Christy). It may also be useful to include your middle name or at minimum your middle initial. In fact, there's no reason you need to change your name at all if you don't want to. – user3685427 Nov 27 '17 at 15:49
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    @user3685427 I'm sure you intend your answer to be helpful, but you should be aware that what you're talking about amounts to suppression or (to phrase it a bit more dramatically) erasure; you're essentially suggesting that OP minimize the expression of her gender and her identity as much as she can, and for many transfolk this is actively harmful to their mental health. – Steven Stadnicki Nov 27 '17 at 20:50
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    I agree with @StevenStadnicki. Anyways that's not too violent for me since my choosen name is a deformation of my birth name, but it's not the same for every trans person and it can sometimes be harmful for them to hear that. Also, I'm french and I think that french names are much more gendered than english ones, so for most french trans people, keeping their birth name is just not an option. – Rdmv Nov 28 '17 at 00:51
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    Thanks to every people who contacted me. I'm quite busy these days and I got a lot of answers so it will perhaps take me some time to answer everyone, but really, every answer has been a great help for me. Thank you very much. – Rdmv Nov 28 '17 at 00:53
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    @StevenStadnicki I would say that easing the ability for colleges to cite and recognize your work is the opposite of suppression. An academic's career is determined largely by their published work - which is tied entirely to their name. It's an issue that women can easily face if they change their last name when they get married, and hence many chose to hyphenate their last name, or not change their last name at all. Perhaps it wasn't clear that the name aspects of my comment were written strictly with that regard. A name is an identifier; nothing more. – user3685427 Nov 28 '17 at 23:06
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    @user3685427 A trans person's name is much more than a mere identifier. There are lots of reasons to change your name if you are trans, which should be obvious on reflection. – Autumn Kent Nov 29 '17 at 01:23
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    Everyone: I've edited some comments that were labeled "rude or abusive". I realize that people may feel very passionately about the issues raised, but especially in a thread of this nature, it's important to avoid what may look like personal attacks. – Todd Trimble Nov 29 '17 at 13:02
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    @ToddTrimble Again, user3685427's comments are transantagonistic. You've erased that from my comment. You are censoring one of the only trans women here and supressing her comments calling out transantagonism. – Autumn Kent Nov 29 '17 at 17:53
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    @AutumnKent I'm sorry that my action upset you; I concurred with the flag that your comment was overly strongly worded and so I did a little editing, trying to preserve its gist. I'm happy to let your current comment stand unedited (although another moderator might feel differently.) – Todd Trimble Nov 29 '17 at 18:06
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    I have voted to close this question. It is off-topic. – Joseph Van Name Nov 29 '17 at 18:13
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    @ToddTrimble More important than decorum in discussions like this is not actually silencing the marginalized people that are most relevant to the discussion itself. It doesn't help mathoverflow be inclusive to let harmful comments stand and censor marginalized people that criticize them. – Autumn Kent Nov 29 '17 at 18:29
  • @AutumnKent Again, it was not my intent to silence you. You added back in the word 'transantagonistic' and, on reflection, I'm letting it stand. I commend you for speaking up. – Todd Trimble Nov 29 '17 at 18:34
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    I see that there are 4 votes to close, and I gather that the question has already been closed and reopened more than once. Please, people, let's leave it open. – Tom Goodwillie Nov 29 '17 at 18:59
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    The censorship of comments also strikes me as very problematic. I'm furthermore disturbed by how much an interloper in the math community appears to have derailed the conversation.

    I will be voting for the question to be reopened if it gets closed yet again.

     – Dylan Thurston Nov 29 '17 at 19:07
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    @DylanThurston Properly speaking your concern is a meta concern. If you are seriously worried that my action here (editing out parts of Autumn's comment which I thought were uncivil) constitutes censorship, then you can open a meta post where Autumn would be invited to repost her comment in full. (We could even ask Community Management to help with that.) Then I would be happy to have an open discussion about just how grievously I was suppressing a transgender voice. (I thought I was just trying to deal with a "rude or abusive" flag, in keeping with a general rule of keeping discourse civil.) – Todd Trimble Nov 29 '17 at 23:19
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    @DylanThurston It's one of my jobs as moderator to seek conflict resolution when tempers flare at MO, and I am committed to that. In return, I ask for at least some benefit of the doubt that I am trying to do the right thing here (even while I acknowledge that sometimes I might make mistakes). Please also feel free to write me or any of the moderators through a private email, where we would try to get things sorted out. – Todd Trimble Nov 29 '17 at 23:22

2 Answers2

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Spectra is an organization for LGBT mathematicians. I hope that you can find people to safely discuss your questions with there.

Tyler Lawson
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    I'm on the board (or whatever we are) of Spectra. I'll write to you offline to facilitate contact if you'd like to ask your question to our mailing list. I'm also posting this here in case there is anyone else who would like to get in touch with Spectra anonymously via a proxy: feel free to email me at "eriehl at math dot jhu dot edu". – Emily Riehl Nov 27 '17 at 15:58
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If you will be at the Joint Math Meetings in San Diego, there will be a Spectra-sponsored MAA panel on Out in Mathematics: Professional Issues Facing LGBTQ Mathematicians, Thursday, January 11th, 1pm - 2:20pm, Room 1A, Upper Level, San Diego Convention Center. It will be moderated by Lily Khadjavi (Loyola Marymount University), with panelists Shelly Bouchat (Indiana University of Pennsylvania), Juliette Bruce (University of Wisconsin Madison), Ron Buckmire (NSF), Frank Farris (Santa Clara University), and Emily Riehl (Johns Hopkins University).

Spectra is hosting an informal reception later that day, Thursday, January 11th, 2018, 6pm-8pm, Catalina Room, Marriott Marquis, which is a great way to meet people. This event has been held at every JMM since 1995. Here is the story of how it started, and shows how our professional societies took a courageous stand even during the anti-gay political storms of in the 1990s. It continues to have relevance today.

In November, 1992, Colorado residents passed an amendment to their Constitution targeting three local anti-discrimination ordinances, nullifying them and making any further attempts unconstitutional. The 1995 Joint Math Meetings were scheduled for Denver. Two mathematicians wrote to the AMS and MAA boards in late 1992 requesting that the JMM be moved, citing the blatant anti-gay animus of the amendment (so blatant that in 1995 the US Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional). The boards met in a joint session at the 1993 JMM and passed a resolution recommending this move, arguing that the societies have a duty to protect participants from possible discrimination. Shortly afterwards, the Joint Meetings Committee moved the 1995 JMM to San Francisco. The Denver cancellation resulted in a lawsuit from the conference hotels, ultimately settled for $35,000, split evenly between the AMS and MAA. Increased attendance at the San Francisco meeting likely covered most of this cost.

Despite short notice and communication difficulties (this was pre-Facebook!), an informal event at the San Francisco JMM held at a restaurant near the conference hotel drew nearly 100 people. A group of concerned mathematicians felt it would be very useful to have a more visible presence at future JMMs, and formed a steering committee, together with setting up an email group. This group eventually was formalized as Spectra.

Spectra is holding a brainstorming session on Friday, January 12th, 2018, 3pm-5pm, Torrey Pines 2, Marriott Marquis and everyone is welcome to attend and contribute ideas.

Jackson Morrow
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Douglas Lind
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    Hi Doug, Thanks for providing some history. You mention "The Denver cancellation resulted in a lawsuit..., ultimately settled for $35,000, ... Increased attendance at the San Francisco meeting likely covered most of this cost." I'd say it was well worth it, but I wonder if your guess is accurate. First, San Francisco would have been more expensive for the MAA and AMS. Second, I expect Denver would have been very well attended, since lots of people would use it as a chance to go skiing before or after. So the MAA and AMS made the right decision, but I don't see a need to speculate it was free. – Joe Silverman Nov 27 '17 at 20:08
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    Given that one of those local anti-discrimination ordinances was Denver's, it is unfortunate that Denver bore the brunt of the boycott. – Acccumulation Nov 27 '17 at 22:27
  • Thanks for this info. Sadly, I'm in France so it will be difficult for me to come, but I think that if I come in this US for my postdoc, this association will be a great help for me. – Rdmv Nov 28 '17 at 00:58
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    @Rdmv Very sorry you will miss the Spectra events this year, but pleased that you know about the organization, and perhaps you can come to a future JMM and participate in Spectra events. – Douglas Lind Nov 28 '17 at 14:37
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    @JoeSilverman Hi Joe, I did quite a bit of research about the history of this, including gathering written recollections by some of the people involved, contacting members of the 1993 AMS Council who voted on the move, and getting background information and meeting minutes from AMS Staff. My comment about the cost being compensated for by larger attendance in San Francisco was based on a written recollection by one of the two people who originally proposed the move, but of course this is still speculative, hence the hedge "likely". – Douglas Lind Nov 28 '17 at 14:57
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    @Accumulation: Though I'm not informed about the relative costs involved, I certainly realized at the time that Denver was the most enlightened place in Colorado. The protest many of us made was directed instead at the majority vote in Colorado for their constitutional amendment (later struck down by the US Supreme Court). I wrote to the AMS Council and officers requesting the move, so I was then asked to be on the steering committee as were a cross-section of others including Robert Bryant (who later served as AMS president). – Jim Humphreys Dec 06 '17 at 01:52