Yea...could have swore I posted one of these way back when...
Anyways, figured since I never actually did properly introduce myself I ought to now that I'm wasting time before getting ready for work.
I've kind of been away from Susan's for quite some time. I joined a little more than a year ago (in fact, the day I came back was the anniversary of when I joined -- funny, eh?) and after some conversations and some thinking I needed to try and get back into a community or someplace where I can really get out my "trans concerns," not to mention get the ball rolling a bit more on things.
I'm a 22-year-old transguy living in the Southern Tier of NY. My area seems to have a fair population of trans and other members of the LGBT community, but I haven't really found an "in" to that community, which doesn't really bother me a great deal. I recently confirmed to my mother that I am, indeed, transsexual, a fact she said she always kind of knew or suspected. She's been making a conscious effort of keeping it in mind as of late, and it's appreciated.
She says she's researched it ever since she had a feeling it was a possibility and has been gradually working on getting my father to accept it -- I'm sure he will on his own time, and I have no issues allowing him that.
Haven't yet told her I'm bi though...not that I think she'd have a problem with it, but sexuality came up before gender identity, and it wasn't a straight-forward question so I just kind of smiled it off.
Lately I've been looking more seriously at packers and binding options and I think I may have a starting point there (I've decided on a packer, looking a bit more at binders). Now that I've finally managed to lose some weight gained from a couple of injuries and have my "swagger" back a bit, I'd really like to put things in motion since I'm out to a couple members of family and I think several others more or less get the idea. I won't actually be buying anything until I get some financials straightened though...hopefully these also will up my passing rate again: it was
really good at my last job (I wonder if the vest helped) and is abysmal at my current job (I think part of that is I'm working in the grooming salon of a petstore chain and my smock is a bit too large though). May have to keep that in mind as I continue to keep my options open on the job front...
Uhm...rambling a bit. As you can probably tell I'm pre-T, pre-therapy even. Insurance is an issue at this point: if I have any it's running out. I could get some through my employer but it's another something I need to get finances sorted out beforehand. Meanwhile, what has probably kept me sane (other than knowing that, at some point, I can get all of this straightened out) is that I've always been "tomboyish" and basically presented as a guy; in everyday life I often get "mistaken" for a guy (again, more when I was working my previous job, but still even now, even in everyday life as I said). Plus I'm basically stealth online as well, which has helped -- a few people know online, but I'm treated no differently by those I still speak with regularly (drifted apart from one, had a falling out with a couple others). In a way that has caused problems in and of itself, however...for example, the woman I'm currently talking to (to borrow a phrase from my brother) doesn't know, and it terrifies me to think of telling her and possibly losing her. She is open-minded, but there's always that frightening possibility...
