By Ash Miranda

I’m Ash Miranda, an instructor in BD’s Customer Education department and based in San Jose, California. I am also a member of our Out and Proud Employee Network (OPEN) Associate Resource Group (ARG) Leadership Team and am transgender. I’d like to open up about my experience engaging with the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Engagement (IDE&E) team at BD and the work that is actively going on to make the company a more inclusive space.  

To begin, I’d like to paint you a picture. Imagine every time you looked at your reflection you saw a statue. One that could move and speak, but whenever either was done, there was heavy pressure weighing on your chest, and as much as you want to look away, you can never hide from the fact that you are nothing more than stone and everyone you encounter reaffirms that. In a poetic way of thinking about the psyche, for a good majority of my life, that was my lived experience—being a person, but never feeling real. I was someone who had to fit into a societal mold and the expectations associated with it.  

Luckily, as an adult with autonomy and the proper forms of support – in my professional and personal life – I could break out of my stone and live within my authentic truth, banding together with folks like myself to do the same. It started about a year ago (so happy anniversary past self), during the pandemic. In secret, I began to experiment more with my look and think about what kind of man I was.

At first, there was a mix of intense excitement, thinking this is how I should have been feeling, but naturally, fear stepped in. One, I had not expected to hit as quickly as it had or as intensified as it did. At that point, I had only disclosed my trans self to a few people outside of work who I thought would be allies and support me, but instead was met with ridicule, exclusion, and invalidation. I was fearful that the minute I opened up about myself to colleagues, I’d lose the connection I had grown to appreciate and eventually lose my job.  

It was all scary and oddly familiar, but one day I got up and said to myself, “I can’t hide this anymore and need to be open.” I remember writing a letter that became a script that eventually became a blank page the minute I opened up to my manager about my truth. She supported me by showing empathy, compassion and sharing the resources that BD offers. She then asked me what I wanted to do and ultimately connected me with the leadership team at our site’s Out and Proud Employee Network (OPEN) Associate Resource Group chapter.

Shortly after joining OPEN, I came out during a team huddle, and began working side by side with members and our HR team. Together, we began exploring ideas on how BD could further support transgender associates in their coming out journey and help them know that they belong and are welcome to fully express their true selves at work. Those conversations led us to partner with our IDE&E team, where we worked together to review and update the BD Gender Transition Guidelines. We also shared stories, resources, and experiences to provide perspectives outside of folk’s lived experiences.  

My main goal in opening up and sharing my truth, along with partnering with our OPEN ARG, HR and IDE&E teams, was to recreate the framework to be more inclusive to varying levels of transgender openness and include support for folks who are non-binary and intersex. Throughout the process, meeting with the teams and all the emails going back and forth, I felt supported and hopeful about the progress and improvements we made and the ongoing positive change within the company to help expand what inclusivity means.  

I was also invited to participate in reviewing other company policies and providing feedback to our IDE&E team. I feel so encouraged that our work on one project – updating the Gender Transition Guidelines – led to us making updates and improvements to others. All in all, I’m glad I opened up about my truth and even happier to know that I could do so confidently, because I work for a company where I was met with pure receptivity and support.  

In my experience, it did exemplify our values in action - to be heard you need to speak up.