Lived experience guides Tate Smith's trans and DEI consulting firm

By JL Odom

Five years ago, Tate Smith, then a legal secretary, decided it was time to share something about himself at his workplace, Clifford Chance, a major law firm in London.

“I was like, ‘OK, I haven’t spoken publicly since I was in high school, and I don’t know if I can do it.’ But then I just kind of thought more about all of these things that were happening to me,” Smith told the Bay Area Reporter in a Zoom interview.

Smith, 25, was relatively new to the firm and had begun hormone replacement therapy (HRT) eight months prior. Physical changes were well underway, and his voice had deepened. His colleagues viewed and treated him as a man.

“I just wanted to get on with the job. I didn’t want my transition to consume me,” he said.

Smith sought to disclose his transness in a way that not only suited him but also garnered receptiveness and empathy. So when a queer friend in the LGBTQ network at the law firm suggested doing a “lunch and learn” session, he was on board.

“I thought, ‘I’m not going to do a training session. I’m not going to do a keynote. I’m not going to tell my sob story. I am going to share my lived experience and educate people on my unique perspective on masculinity, and that’s what I’ve done ever since,’” Smith said.

Coming out as transgender and speaking publicly about his transition at that initial lunch and learn, titled “What It’s Like to Be Trans,” was a lightbulb moment for Smith in terms of embarking on a new career path.

He’s now the director of Tate Smith Consulting, a London-based firm focused on providing companies with trans and diversity, equity, and inclusion guidance.

“It’s evolved from just speaking about trans awareness to now speaking about lots of other different things, because I naturally fall into different strands under DEI,” he noted.

The firm, which he founded in May 2023, offers services such as fireside chats, policy reviews, panel discussions, and workshops, with the overarching aim to improve workplace inclusivity and culture. He speaks on gender-themed topics including toxic masculinity, male privilege, menopause, and gender equality, while also offering suggestions as to how to improve workplaces for trans people.

Smith explained, “I would not want to work somewhere that didn’t have a trans policy, and I think companies need to hear that. A lot of them now are being told, because of the anti-DEI backlash, that basically anything that’s not seen as business should not go on LinkedIn or on a website. But I think companies forget that it actually demonstrates the sort of unique and cool stuff you’re doing, and it shows a bit of personality.”

“Your clients are as diverse as you are, and they’ll have trans kids or trans family members. They want to see you doing the work. And this is why it’s so important to speak about lived experience,” he added.

In the United States, President Donald Trump has backed a barrage of anti-DEI directives since taking office on January 20. His executive order, detailed in the White House’s “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Protects Civil Rights and Merit-Based Opportunity By Ending Illegal DEI” includes the termination of federal agencies’ DEI programs and practices.

(As the B.A.R. reported February 20, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is suing the Trump administration on behalf of organizations across the country, alleging the anti-DEI orders are illegal.)

One section reads, “Individual dignity, hard work, and excellence are fundamental to American greatness. This executive order reaffirms these values by ending the Biden-Harris Administration’s anti-constitutional and deeply demeaning ‘equity’ mandates, terminating DEI, and protecting civil rights.”

Trump’s DEI-reversal is far-reaching, affecting companies and individuals in the U.S. and beyond. His actions do not sit well with many, including Smith.

“To say I’m disappointed in President Trump’s anti-DEI measures would be an understatement. DEI is not just about LGBTQ+ people – it benefits everyone,” he stated. “Let’s not forget that women, people of color, and disabled individuals have all gained opportunities through DEI policies, and many wouldn’t have been able to work in the White House without them.”

He also considered the specific effects of Trump’s actions on the trans community, including “reinforcing outdated gender norms and restricting access to basic rights, like inclusive facilities.”

Several U.S. companies have rolled back their DEI initiatives and removed DEI references from their websites in response to Trump’s executive order.

Smith, with clients throughout the United Kingdom, hopes for companies to stand firm in their support of DEI, which in itself can be an impactful reaction.

“Now is the time for organizations to step up, not step back,” he noted. “Companies like JP Morgan, Costco, and Ben & Jerry’s have shown that investing in DEI strengthens both communities and businesses alike. The best way to push back against this regression is to keep leading by example.”

The makings of a personal history

Smith’s intersectional approach to DEI guidance stems from his working-class background, identities, and corresponding life experiences. During his youth, he lived with his family in Essex, a county in southeast England, in a council estate, i.e. public housing, and received free school meals.

He described his beginnings as “humble,” while also providing him with a sense of what he needed to do in order to achieve social mobility.

“My family was very, very poor, and so it was really important for me to have a successful career,” Smith shared.

On a whim, he enrolled in a legal secretary course at New City College’s Epping Forest campus, located in Loughton, England. The course completion resulted in his earning of a legal secretary diploma and landing a job as a legal team assistant in 2018. The work, he found, suited him.

“I actually ended up being really, really good at it, and I thought maybe I could become a lawyer. So what I started doing was working nine to five and then studying law in the evening, 6 until 9 p.m. I did this for a couple of years, and it seemed to go really well. I thought maybe I could become a human rights lawyer,” Smith said.

In his initial employment as a legal assistant, Smith was living as a woman. Men’s remarks and inappropriate behavior toward him often undercut the satisfaction he derived from the work itself. He asked that the name of the law firm not be published.

“I faced a lot of sexual harassment, sexual assault, casual sexism, and casual misogyny whilst in the role. I would have men making comments about the size of my breasts, making comments about wearing a dress and how nice my legs were. There would be men who would say, ‘I would love to cheat on my wife with you,’ or ‘If only I was 20 years younger,’” Smith shared.

As Smith realized, the societal perception of the legal secretary role only exacerbated the issue.

“I was also working in the most stereotypical female job, so people felt like they could talk to me like shit. I was at the bottom of the food chain when it came to the people in the law firm,” he noted.

Things took a turn, though not for the better, when he began transitioning. Sexism and misogyny gave way to trans discrimination in those early years as a legal secretary, with the issues occurring “across different organizations,” Smith said.

“My line managers and the HR team suggested that I should be put in a separate room [from] my colleagues. They kept questioning me over how much I was going to change, if I was going to be difficult to work with,” Smith commented.

As a result of the lack of an inclusive culture, and altogether absent LGBTQ+ network and trans-supportive policies at his workplace, he sought employment as a legal secretary elsewhere. Once hired at Clifford Chance, he was prepared to go back into the closet, given his previous employer’s icy reception to his transness.

“I went stealth,” Smith explained.

And he could, since after many months on testosterone, his appearance and voice had changed, resulting in a noticeably different response from his new colleagues.

“As soon as I started working in this law firm, I was immediately met with so much respect, whereas a year prior to that, I would be shouted at by men just for doing my job. Every time I walked into a room, somebody wanted to be friends with me. People wanted to shake my hand and call me ‘lad’ and ‘sir’ and ‘mate,’” Smith shared, referring to Clifford Chance.

Clifford Chance officials declined to comment.

“Unfortunately, the firm doesn’t provide commentary on or discuss current and former colleagues,” a spokesperson stated in an email.

Because Smith was a man, co-workers presumed that he took on the legal secretary role as a stepping stone to something bigger, which he was, in fact, doing with his evening law school classes.

“They’d pat me on the back and go, ‘What’s your story? You’re a legal secretary? No, you must be doing something else,’” he said.

Taking the initiative

For Smith, the lunch and learn at Clifford Chance was pivotal in that it inspired his eventual exit from the legal field, including his ambition to practice law.

“I had to take that leap of faith, because law was a very secure job for me, but I naturally outgrew it. I couldn’t have continued there any longer, and because I had so much educating to do, particularly with the time that we’re living in now, I thought, ‘If I don’t do it now, I’m never going to do it,’” he said of his decision to become an entrepreneur and own a business.

Tate Smith Consulting, with clients such as Barclays, JP Morgan, McCann, and Arnold & Porter, has operated as a private limited company (referred to as an LLC in the United States) as of April 2024, 13 months after its official launch.

“That was the greatest achievement of my life,” he said, “because not only am I seeing on this company register, ‘Mr. Tate Smith,’ which is so affirming for me and my transness, but I’m also seeing next to it, ‘company director’ and ‘shareholder.’ As a working class kid from a very disadvantaged background, that’s a really big deal for me.”

Via Tate Smith Consulting, he now helps other companies with setting up or refreshing their transgender policies, also known as “transition at work” or “change of gender expression” policies.

Smith explained, “A lot of companies still don’t have them. Or, they have them but they haven’t been updated in many years, and they haven’t considered things around nonbinary people and things like, ‘What if you’re gender-nonconforming and the photo on your security pass doesn’t match you on a particular day?’”

But clients shouldn’t expect a PowerPoint presentation or a terminology-laden sensitivity training session from Smith to glean insight into how to create a more inclusive work environment. Smith’s approach is grounded in his willingness to talk openly about being trans.

“I always speak from the heart. Nuanced conversations are what I’m best known for, because I’m really good at explaining things to people in a calm way,” he said.

Fiona Fleming, Head of ED&I (equity, diversity, and inclusion) at the law firm Farrer & Co, invited Smith to speak to her colleagues in its London headquarters. At the lunch and learn, he talked about his trans journey and trans- and nonbinary-inclusive workplace features.

“Tate’s lunch and learn session helped to move trans inclusion conversations at our firm into trans inclusion actions. Since Tate’s session, the firm has produced a transition and change to gender expression policy, alongside supporting guidance documents for line managers, colleagues, and HR,” Fleming wrote in an email to the B.A.R.

Fleming, a member of the LGBTQ community herself, also shared that Smith’s visit to Farrer & Co, and the insight he provided, prompted the firm to establish a suite of gender-inclusive bathrooms.

“Tate has passion, energy, enthusiasm, and expertise, and his work has truly been a catalyst for change in our firm,” she commented.

Oftentimes, companies reach out to Smith and request him as a guest speaker or panelist rather than for explicit assistance with their trans policies. They end up making improvements and continuing with DEI efforts based on what he’s shared.

Smith explained, “What will happen is, I’ll get feedback a couple of months later, or they’ll say, ‘Our board [has] just improved our trans policy because you spoke about it [and] the CEO or the managing partner was in that room’; ‘Someone sung your praises;’ or ‘We’ve decided to host another event.’”

“So I give them the basics, and I let them run with it, and if they want to come back to me for a policy, they can,” he said.

In 2024, one company – a global mining operator – sought direct guidance from Smith for its “Corporate Office Trans Policy.” The person was not authorized to share the name of the company. They shared the following statement:

“Tate’s review, input and challenges to the initial drafts allowed [the company] to ensure the policy used the right language, was appropriate and demonstrated support and commitment to ensuring all colleagues feel welcome, respected and supported,” the spokesperson stated.

To introduce the trans policy, Smith hosted a webinar for the company’s colleagues during which he spoke about his lived experience as a trans man and related terminology.

The company’s statement continued, “[Tate’s] engaging, open and honest approach allowed colleagues to engage with the policy, start conversations and increase awareness, understanding and empathy. The session was very well received and generated positive engagement in understanding through [a] live Q&A in, and after, the event. His experiences from when he presented as female, and the differences now, as a trans man, really helped frame and open up the conversation and understanding to a diverse global audience who would not usually get exposure to such content and experiences.”

The particulars

In his speaking engagements, Smith broaches topics such as misgendering a person and pronoun-sharing, using personal examples to emphasize their significance and effects.

His firsthand account of being misgendered conveys the emotional impact of the experience to clients.

He shared, “What I’ll say [to them], for example, is, ‘Being misgendered would literally break my day. It would just make me upset. I could not bring my full self to work if someone did not call somebody out and correct that person. I didn’t have the confidence, so I’d stay silent, and then that behavior continued.’”

When it comes to pronouns, he explains to his audience how he/him, she/her, and they/them in email closings and social media bios read as signs of acceptance and allyship for LGBTQ individuals.

“I tell them that when I see somebody email me with pronouns in a signature, I know that if at some point I subtly say ‘I’m trans’ in a conversation, then I would feel safe with them. Safety is paramount to us,” Smith said.

That explanation, he’s discovered, gives clients the perspective they need. “They go, ‘Ah, I get it. It’s not just this whole woke business,’” he said.

And, in terms of adding or revamping trans policies, Smith advocates for companies to provide health care support to trans and nonbinary employees, citing his own uphill climb to top surgery, which his former law firm’s private medical insurance provider initially dubbed a “boob job.”

“I was like, ‘Well, no, it’s not, because you’re masculinizing my chest. You’re not amplifying anything. It’s not cosmetic. It’s corrective – it’s for my identity.’ I had to explain to them how it was impacting my day-to-day life,” Smith said.

His communication with the provider included detailing his avoidance of white shirts because he didn’t want people to see his binder through them, routine bathroom mirror checks to ensure his binder was in place, and wearing two jumpers (i.e. sweaters) to flatten his chest. Having breasts, in other words, was an endless discomfort, both physically and mentally.

“We [in the United Kingdom] are so lucky that we can still get access to our health care, as opposed to other places and countries, but it’s a fight. It’s like presenting a court case when you go to the doctors. … So what I do is I encourage organizations to cover that to take that emotional and financial burden away from the trans person. And a lot of companies do cover it, but they don’t publicize it because they are worried about the public backlash,” he said.

Smith’s interest in addressing health care inequalities for trans people extends to working with clients such as Egality, a UK-based community engagement agency that strives for more inclusive health care-related research and innovations.

“It was a pleasure to work with Tate. He brought both warmth and professionalism to our project,” wrote Annette Crosse, CEO and founder of Egality, in an email to the B.A.R.

Crosse, an ally, explained that the particular project involved developing “inclusive and accessible communications materials” about a study on the National Health Service’s care bundle for reducing heavy bleeding during childbirth. She reached out to Smith to support Egality with the effort. Crosse requested that the name of the study not be published.

“Tate brought in experts with lived experience to take part in workshops … including two trans men who have given birth. Tate helped us design the workshops to be inclusive, and he co-chaired sessions in the workshop[s] as well,” Crosse wrote.

In the workshops, they also co-created some of the communications materials for the study.

“The outputs were patient information leaflets and films designed to share information with the LGTBQ+ community, who we know already face worse outcomes in our health system, and [with] parental care,” she wrote.

Reconceptualizing gender norms

Smith, attuned to his own male privilege, also uses his platform to inspire progressive perspectives among men.

“Unfortunately, men only listen to other men,” he said. “So I’m like, ‘OK, well, I’m now going to reverse male privilege on you and get you in that room to listen to me. [Y]ou think, ‘Oh, there’s a lad. That’s a nice looking boy. Let’s go listen to him.’ And then I hit you with, ‘I’m trans. I’m going through menopause. I’m socially mobile. I care about gender equality, and I want you to as well.’”

Their surprise gives way to a better understanding of what being a man — and masculinity — can entail.

“These men go, ‘Oh my God,’ and it has a ripple effect. That’s the sort of man I want to continue being,” he said.

This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.