The political situation for trans people in the southern US has been devolving rapidly and I’m looking to move to a protected state. I’m going to start applying to jobs soon, and I’ve been considering whether I should apply as my dead self or not.

I haven’t changed my legal name yet, so my job applications immediately out me as trans and even if it didn’t I don’t pass at all currently, so if I got an interview I’d be outed then. I’ve been reading about how hard it is to get a job as a trans woman and I’ll need all the help I can get to get out of this shithole state.

It would kill me to have to go back into the closet for work, but the alternative is being potentially stuck in a place that will forcibly detransition me which is way worse.

Has anyone been in this situation or has any advice?