Hello. I'm brand new to this place so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'll go by Caroline while I'm here (this isn't my birth name of course) but you can call me Carly for short. I'm 21, 22 in January, not really out yet but I've lived openly as a Gay man since I was 14. I've just come to realize, painfully, that I don't belong in the Gay community not because they've rejected me per se in fact just the opposite they've been quite kind, but because I no longer believe I am a Gay male. I had originally thought that my gender incongruence was just a part of being Homosexual and that all Gay guys feel this way. I know now that that is not at all the case but I didn't as a 14 year old kid trying to figure what the heck was going on. I think part of this was that I was raised in a conservative family in a relatively small city in Colorado so naturally there are a lot of misconceptions around here about LGBT people and I was spoonfed those misconcpetions since I was a little kid. As far back as I can remember though I've been struggling with my gender identity, feeling overwhelmingly feminine but looking the exact opposite and not knowing how to express this and feeling like if I did I would be punished or looked down upon. I feel like in order for me to ever truly be happy I have to stop denying who I am on the inside and live for myself not anyone else. There are very few if any support groups or organizations for LGBT people around here so I went searching online for some kind of support while I begin this long and hard journey. Anyways that's all I guess for now, hope to get to know some of you better in the weeks and months to come.
