Hello to those who read this. I'm new here and I don't quite know where to start off but with a greeting, a little backstory, and an issue I'm working through.
My husband came out as trans (FtM) a little under a year ago, and when he told me my first response was limitless support. I've been aware of the trans community for a long time, though in the way one is aware of a landmark they casually notice on a familiar walk; so my approach was to dive right in and learn by going to the local LGBT center and interacting with the trans community there. Open to new information and smashing old perceptions caused by misinformation I learned what I could. I'll be honest, I'm not the perfect supporter, I misstep from time to time, but correct my mistakes and move on. The mistake that I notice now is not communicating with significant others and allies. I had the idea that because I have a positive attitude of constant support and 'learned from the source' that that's all I need. However I know little from this side of things aside from my own experiences. So here I am to learn and to lend what words I can.
My biggest concern is what the state of our marriage will be once the gender markers start changing. I'm a member of the military and though 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' is dead there is still a long way to for gay marriage rights, I don't want him losing spouse benefits for being him. Looking into the matter myself our marriage in Texas will mean he will still be female on the certificate because according to the state laws there your birth sex and gender are inseparable, so that may mean the military could see our relationship as male and female. I'm setting up appointments with the base legal offices to hammer those details out. I'm not too thrilled about wadding through that legal quagmire...
