Yes. As a child my family tormented me with sissy, and would call me my name now which is not the name my parents gave me. There were times meeting new people that they thought that I was a girl, that they were calling me my name and that Sissy was my nickname. I don't mind being called my current name, good thing too my family has almost exclusively called me that since childhood, I hated being called a sissy though. They were so nasty about it. I was really good at sports and was always chosen first, I got the sissy. You gotta keep it then. was pretty much how every game began for me. Teen years until around 17 was worse at times, but I eventually learned how to blend in. No more worries after that until my late thirties and I slowly gave up on hiding it. Dude, you are such a girl. If I wanted to talk to my wife I would call her. The only close guy friend that I had at work started giving me signals when I got too feminine. Even he eventually stopped talking to me unless we were in a group so no one thought he was gay.
Know what is kinda sad and a little sickening? Half of the guys that I would hang out with at work groped me or asked for a bj before I came out and they had a company wide meeting/class that I was asked not to be at. For more than two years before I came out it was miserable to work there. Walk into a room, F** is here guys, cover up your junk. Just messing with you, we don't care if you are queer, come in and have a seat. Always the name calling but grudging acceptance, just like when I was a kid. They even had the gall to be furious when I came into work with most of my face bruised, broken and stitched. For over a week they talked about hunting the guys down who did it and beating them up. I swear, as bad as I felt it felt worse the way they treated me. Like their mascot gay guy that they had to protect. At least I had already came out and the name calling and groping had stopped, it was more, People like you have to be careful around here. Let us know if anyone is giving you trouble. All the while they pulled away until no one would talk to me at all. Eventually most of them ignored me if I spoke to them, people I had known for more than 15 years, been to their weddings, cookouts, birthdays.
I think it is probably normal for people to assume we are unless we are obviously transitioning and even then many see us as an even more messed up homosexual.
