Quote from: Oldandcreaky on Today at 02:28:01 PMLove ^this.^
I've loved the entire story of your journey. It gives me broader hope. All the trans-hatred around the world might just be the tip of nothing, a cold, jagged point of hatred with nothing beneath it beyond a desire to manipulate people with an othering, given the number of people in just your life who support you.
I so agree that it's mostly a grift. One party's attempt to raise money/stoke fear by throwing as many "us vs them" issues against a wall... and when this stuck a bit, they've leaned hard into it. It is only as it slowly dawns on politicians that it is NOT an issue that will win them elections, in fact it seems like it is something of the opposite — that they may drop this issue, so long as they can find something else and/or some ONE else to make the new target.
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As for my journey? I a glad you feel that way about it. I hope it does provide hope for others. After these 10 days, though, several phone calls, in personal discussions, and emails... I've come to a conclusion. Or, more safely, a theory. One that I hadn't heard before.
My therapist would say tell me she expected my wife and family to be fine, same with my friends etc..and she was right. My wife thought the same. So did I really.
But I don't think that gets to it. What I think?
I think everyone has been incredibly consistent with the people I know them to be.
And, honestly, why would you ever expect otherwise? I'm literally telling them that I am "still me / just me"... and that is what they are as well. All the good, great, quirky, inappropriate, etc... you shouldn't expect people to be anything other than who they are.
For example, just spoke to my friend who is a doctor. He of the call last night when he should know better. He could not have been more supportive. But several times during the discussion I had to cut him off and correct him, telling him he didn't understand as much about HRT as my endo, or the relationship to my headaches as my neuro... etc. Because he's a GP, and he always talks like that. Always did, always will. So it was actually comforting that we just fell into our regular routine of me saying "yeah, I appreciate that you think you know about a little about this, but my neuro knows a lot more." And us both laughing.
I think there's a lot of comfort in all that too. Feeling people be who they are. I just think it's not necessarily a piece of advice I ever remember hearing.
