I finally was able to muster courage and told my brother that I am transgendered. It was really awkward to start off with but eventually I was able to be open about it and we talked about it for a couple of hours so. Since he had some idea about this as my mother (who partly knows about me) had talked to him about it so, it did not come as a shock and it was a calm and rational talk. I am not sure what reaction I was expecting but I got really mixed signals from my brother.
The gist of our discussion can be summarized by the following: he pretty much said that he would not be bothered at all if I was gay ((I am still not certain about my sexual orientation). He was also not too bothered if I wanted to be a transvestite and dress occasionally. However, he was very much against the idea that I wanted to eventually transition and live full-time as a woman. For some reason, he was unable to understand that even though dressing as a girl partly makes me feel comfortable, it is not the sole reason to transition; and that I want to live full-time as a woman since I feel that I am a woman and have been born in the wrong body (It would have helped if I was better prepared for this as well).
That said, there were some better positive signs as well. I am planning to meet and talk with a gender therapist next week and discuss my situation with her. My brother pretty much suggested the same thing that talking to a counselor would be a good course of action. Also, he did say that he does not plan to break his relationship with me and that he will be there for me even though he does not approve of my decision.
And finally he explicitly said that he could have used emotional blackmail to manipulate me but he does not believe that it would be a good course of action in the long run as it would lead to long-term unhappiness for me and he wishes for the best of me (He knows that I care about my parents and siblings so much that I would not want to hurt them in any way). However, he does not believe that transitioning is the best course of action for me and is completely against it.
All-in-all, I wouldn't say that I am happy with how things turned out at the end of the day. But, things could have been way worse and I am satisfied with the knowledge that he is willing to rationally talk about it. This gives me hope that I would be able to gain his approval some day in the future.
