This diversity enriches us as a company and can also enrich each of us personally – we get to know new points of view and perspectives, engage with each other and grow together. We’re proud of the number of different people who are part of the DOREA FAMILY, and of the fact that they feel at home with us in the DOREA FAMILY.
Hello, my name is Lenn Chapman. I was born a woman on February 29, 2000. DOREAFAMILIE gives me the opportunity to give you a glimpse of my life as a trans man through this medium.
Until I was 19, I lived as a woman, but I always felt uncomfortable in my own skin. Many people ask me how I came to realize that I’d rather be a man than a woman. It’s an insidious process, in which many puzzle pieces form a whole in the end. Already in kindergarten, I was asking, “Mommy, when do I grow a ‘pillerman’?” After all, my brothers had one and I didn’t. One day, I realized: “OK, my hair has to be short”. With the words, “Dad, I want to look like the other boys at the soccer club,” things continued. I was always “different” from the girls around me. I felt quite uncomfortable at puberty with the growth of female breasts.
Yet I adapted to social norms and tried to fit the “girl” cliché. In 2012, I broke down this wall by getting my hair cut radically short again. Harassment at school with the words “woman-man” accompanied me throughout my education.
I first came across the term “transsexuality” in 2015. I looked into it intensively when I started my social year in 2018. In the meantime, the discomfort I felt in my body was increasingly spilling over into my psyche. I didn’t know where to put myself anymore. In 2019, I started building a second life for myself on the Internet – under the name Lenn. There, I met people in similar situations, who helped me take my first steps and became very good friends.
In 2020, I confided in a therapist. I had to because, in Germany, transidentity is considered a “personality disorder” and therefore an illness – total nonsense, but true nonetheless. In addition to the hormone therapy, which I started on 17/02/21, he helped me with the bureaucratic part (change of first name and civil status).
I came out, which was well received by my friends and family, but a little less so by my employer. It’s common for trans people to face discrimination even today: I was fired a week later at my company. For this reason, I needed a change of scene. I moved to Siegerland to start a new life, training as a nurse.
At my training company, I’ve been open about my background, as my female first name appears on my documents; but I want to be accepted as Lenn. But unfortunately, I once again had the bitter experience of being sacked without giving any reason. I found myself back at square one and had to find a new employer. As the old saying goes, “When one door closes, another one opens!” My path led me to DOREAFAMILIE Siegerland. Despite my background and everything I carry with me, I was accepted as a man and integrated into the team.
No one categorizes me according to my biological sex, quite the contrary. I’m supported and respected at DOREAFAMILIE and get a lot of positive feedback. I couldn’t have wished for a better employer. DOREAFAMILIE shows its colors, treats its employees with respect and is there when things don’t go as they should. I’m grateful for everything. I’m especially grateful for the opportunity to tell my story.
