I'm writing this to offer support for those people who do not fit into neat categories, or those who do not prefer to wear makeup, or those who prefer not to have their marriage annulled by a legal gender change, or those who for safety reasons are unable to live full time as an unpassable woman. In short, you don't have to, and you can still get the blessed surgical relief the rest of us have (hopefully) enjoyed.
Sorry, don't mean to be categorical, but this is a big pet peeve of mine. As someone who knew what gender I was (NoT the one into which I was born), I resented any directives that placed my gender future in the terms of whether I changed my name or wore a skirt or told people what my gender was. Although I identify as a female, I am more androgynous in appearance. I never liked feminine clothes, although all of my clothes are bought from the female racks. I never liked makeup, but then again, neither does my cisfemale wife, who has supported me through my transition in more ways than I could say. Plus I live in eastern Europe, where very simply put if you cannot pass 100% of the time, you will eventually be physically put to grave danger. I am okay regarding passing, but not 100%. That is not acceptable for me or for my wife. Who, incidentally, would be deported if I changed my passport to F because same-sex marriage is illegal in my homophobic country, and she is an immigrant.
In short, for anyone who knows what they want / need but feel the RLE requirement will significantly ruin / damage their lives, they can be excused by an empathetic psychologist / surgeon. My US psychologist and my being 12 days post-op by Dr Suporn of Thailand can attest to that.
RLE, while trying to minimize the risk of regret for us, fails to understand that for most of us, we've had 20, 30, 40, 50+ years to digest, absorb and understand who we are. They are flexible enough to allow that you might also at this point know how you wish to present yourself to the world. Thank god.
