I'm TS and was googling around for forums on the subject. I stumbled on this site and it seemed like it may be enjoyable, so I decided to give it a try.
For me, it was a discussion on another forum. Luckily, Kimberly posted this address.
There was this one fellar who thought transsexuals should be happy with the gender 'nature' gave them, because 'we,' as living creatures, 'stole' our bodies from 'Nature...'
Of course, I disagreed... :)
Still, the arguments for his opinion were quite annoying, in my opinion. Not to mention hanging on the cliff by a straw, with the very deep abyss of religious fanaticism beneath him.
For me?
Sheer desperation.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)Kristi
I agree it was sheer desperation to comunicate with others. To find out the real truth of what is about to happen to me when I have SRS. It better be good!!! I can't take anymore dissapointment.
Deb
Google.
~ Blair
Everywhere I looked I got different answers to this question, "will I always have to dialate this much?" I asked two different specialists in the field one of which was my surgeon and got two different answers. I asked some post-ops and didn't have much luck. So I thought if I came to this website I could get a large enough amount of feedback that I could sort of average it all out and come to a conclusion that would be something close to the truth.
I found this site during my research to figure out what the heck was wrong with me.
Melissa
Quote from: Melissa on March 09, 2007, 04:22:48 PM
I found this site during my research to figure out what the heck was wrong with me.
Melissa
Me too.
I kept coming back and eventually became a member (I lurked for about 5 months) because it became very obvious that Susan's is filled with wonderful, supportive people and that it is kept safe and free from the types of predators who use the subject of ->-bleeped-<- as a target for their hatred.
It certainly ain't the paycheck! ;D
hugs & smiles
helen
I was active on a CD forum and although I felt great friendship with the members there I felt I didn't belong as I knew I was TS. So I went out and found a few sites that focused more on girls like me and became members. Susan's was the one I liked the most.
Julie
For me, I had reached a point where the isolation from others of like mind and state, was creating a dangerous emotional and psychological condition.
Don't be surprised if I start crying, here.
My transition...has been exceedingly rough: multiple healing processes and accelerated emotional and psychological maturation [which GID and ADHD had effectively retarded for too many years], all happening at once.
While this is a good thing, sometimes change and healing can in itself, because human beings are human beings, be exceedingly traumatic and can drive one to 'act out' in ways---that are extreme.
And I 'got out of hand' in another support group and for the sake of love, I begged the moderators to terminate my account.
So mine was something of a self-imposed isolation and after a grieving process, I was OK for a while, but the isolation began to tear me apart.
Alot had changed, alot had happened since I had left that support forum; the net result was transitional and emotional improvement. It became apparent that I had negotiated a 'phase'.
But the isolation again, was killing me and another sister had suggested this forum to me, as a source of solace and empathy.
And I cannot adequately express how much it means to me, to be a part of this forum.
Quote from: rhonda13000 on March 10, 2007, 08:38:13 AM
And I 'got out of hand' in another support group and for the sake of love, I begged the moderators to terminate my account.
Rhonda, I don't thing the other forum provided an environment that was as conducive to a good transition as this forum and even since you've left I've had to point out times when they all (including the mods) started to get out of hand. You seem to be doing SO much better here.
Melissa
I am so happy that you are here, my dear Melissa.
But you know what Melissa? You are noticeably different here, as well.
In a very good sense.
I am happy that you are here.
Quote from: rhonda13000 on March 10, 2007, 08:38:13 AM
For me, I had reached a point where the isolation from others of like mind and state, was creating a dangerous emotional and psychological condition.
Don't be surprised if I start crying, here.
My transition...has been exceedingly rough: multiple healing processes and accelerated emotional and psychological maturation [which GID and ADHD had effectively retarded for too many years], all happening at once.
While this is a good thing, sometimes change and healing can in itself, because human beings are human beings, be exceedingly traumatic and can drive one to 'act out' in ways---that are extreme.
And I 'got out of hand' in another support group and for the sake of love, I begged the moderators to terminate my account.
So mine was something of a self-imposed isolation and after a grieving process, I was OK for a while, but the isolation began to tear me apart.
Alot had changed, alot had happened since I had left that support forum; the net result was transitional and emotional improvement. It became apparent that I had negotiated a 'phase'.
But the isolation again, was killing me and another sister had suggested this forum to me, as a source of solace and empathy.
And I cannot adequately express how much it means to me, to be a part of this forum.
*hugs* But it'll all turn out well for you, I'm sure.
After a personal recommendation of this site from someone who posts here... well, really it was the chat side of things. But I don't do chat for various reasons...
I'm now on my fourth TS forum after fleeing others (no names) because of:
• Over-zealous and insecure moderating
• Lack of post-op women to discuss topics of concern with i.e. health matters
• Bitchy, nasty, back-stabbing, gossip and the tearing-down of others
• Lack of sensible focus on the things that are important to me
On each one I've used different handles so avoiding leaving a trail... but others here may have come across me elsewhere before in a different guise.
After surgery, I presumptuously thought that I had had it with communities, but soon found myself beset by post-surgical problems and ongoing hormonal problems which drove me back in search of peer advice and support.
This is by far the best T forum I've ever had the pleasure to be involved with, and the only one I have offered to contribute money towards... There are some good, kind and warm people here and just as importantly, there are some very funny and perceptive people here too.
I'm glad to be here.
The day the person I was crazy in love with told me the truth about themselves and TS I found Susan's and have never left. I told Brooke about Susan's as well and so she signed up too and here we are in our new home. A place Brooke and I can be ourselves without everyone else on the outside knowing. Brooke and I have several unique things about our relationship; we are on opposite coasts, we have been friends-only for yrs until our relationship got intensely romantic and we share other message boards with people who have no idea "he" and I have anything going on together let alone know anything about "she". When Brooke is ready to come out we shall, but until then this is our safe haven.
Susan's has been a really important part of my day since I found it and Susan herself has become one of my closest friends ever.
Anyone who finds Susan's has stumbled upon a treasure of beautiful goodness and love.
google lead me to the IRC chan when I was figuring stuff out, I hung about there for a while and made a few posts here, then got chan oped on the channel and decided to have a bit more of a presence here.
Loneliness. Everyone needs to feel a connection somehow and I find it here. Besides, there are some things about being transsexual that you just can't talk about with someone who's not.
Karen Lyn :icon_female:
It has been so long I do not remember. And no, I did not use my current username back then.
Quote from: Melissa on March 09, 2007, 04:22:48 PM
I found this site during my research to figure out what the heck was wrong with me.
Melissa
Me too.
I need help and friends.
I need some one who knew what I was going through and that would accept me for who I really was.
:)
Jillieann
I found Susan's sort of by accident in 1997 or 98, I'm not sure which during a search on the internet. I lurked around for quite a while, reading posts but never daring to reply or post anything of my own for several months because I felt like I would be intruding. Finally I did respond to one post and was amazed at how well I was received, even by she who shall not be named (Oldtimers know who I'm talking about). That was, as I said somewhere else, back in the stone age when the forum was just one big board and everything was posted on it. I seem to recall that we took up a collection back then to buy some kind of software and if I remember, it was the multiple forum board (Maebh am I right about that?). Anyway I hung around until about 2003-4 as moderator of the Spirituality and Crossdressing boards before just gradually drifting away. Also somewhere along the line back then, I picked up the nickname Miss Kitty on here.
Now that I've bored you with a lesson in ancient history, the reason I came back was I just plain missed it and the companionship of like minded people. There were some great people on the board back then but to tell the truth, it's a better group now. Cindi, Melissa, Tink, et al add so much to these forums. I am really enjoying being back and I love all ya'll.
Bev
Quote from: BeverlyAnn on March 13, 2007, 12:01:18 AM
I seem to recall that we took up a collection back then to buy some kind of software and if I remember, it was the multiple forum board (Maebh am I right about that?).
It was WWWthreads and cost $200. Quite a few people donated to help purchase it and they still have my eternal gratitude! :)
I like SMF much better than WWWthreads but back then WWWTreads was top of the line. It's still around but was bought by another company and it is now called UBBthreads
I was in completely desperate need of information and support. My mind had been exploding for months as the reality of my situation had finally hit home and really begun to sink in for the first time in my life.
I hope the people here still realize what i think of them - all of their help, gracious loving warmth in times of dire need, and intelligence with which i found this board to be uniquely gifted with in so many ways. I had never been part of any group, or community, or online board of any type ever like this before in my life. I did'nt know anyone like myself, nor had ever talked to or been around anyone similar in feelings, thoughts, and experiences. I finally found an entire group of people that understood exactly what i was feeling and why and how...because they all felt the same, or similar experiences in so many ways, but from all different perpectives and age groups as well.
All of my immediate family, friends, and professional connections are all pretty much mainstream folks - many of them highly to very conservative, few friends that were gay or bi, and i had never gone to clubs, groups, meetings - nothing. I only knew the deep soul-searing agony of complete aloneness i knew i was feeling at that time, and was about to risk everything in my life on this single bet that i could be a better girl, and already was deep inside - always had been, than i ever had been or could've been a man... I needed extreme help, information, and support, and i found it here....
Thank you Susan, I love you, and i think you are incredible - as are all the staff that have pitched in for so long to make it all happen. What you have created with everyone here is truly something special, and it has allowed so many people from all over the planet to come together and connect in ways, that for many of us could not or would not have been possible otherwise.
Thank you,
Most sincerely always,
Maryanne A. (ChefAnnagirl) Arnow
Quote from: Kristi on March 09, 2007, 09:29:38 AM
For me?
Sheer desperation.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)Kristi
Likewise.
The site was recommended to me by another sister and...I could not handle the isolation anymore.
It was killing me,,,
Quote from: Dryad on March 09, 2007, 09:10:19 AM
For me, it was a discussion on another forum. Luckily, Kimberly posted this address.
There was this one fellar who thought transsexuals should be happy with the gender 'nature' gave them, because 'we,' as living creatures, 'stole' our bodies from 'Nature...'
Of course, I disagreed... :)
Still, the arguments for his opinion were quite annoying, in my opinion. Not to mention hanging on the cliff by a straw, with the very deep abyss of religious fanaticism beneath him.
That guy would be surprised to understand that we all be female at conception..... go figure eh! Life is cool, there are so many paths and they all lead to the same point of exit....lol
I washed ashore on a google wave... and then was drug back out to sea for a time.
I liked the feel of here so I found my way back.
At the time, I needed support... and to understand. I knew what I was just not what to do about it, lol.
So much happens in such a little amount of time (=
:angel:
I needed understanding and information from people who take their condition seriously and who were adult enough to focus on the important things. After searching really hard, I found this place. It was here when I needed it and I hope I somehow have helped to contribute.
Before coming here, I had begun to realize that I'd better not reveal too much when I was new to a site. Some of the other sites allow too much for inappropriate topics or they try to push 'frilliness' on you.
This site also has good input from FTMs and I consider their experiences to be very relevant to my overall knowledge and understanding. I think some sites blow off the FTM experience and concentrate on MTF too much.
Anyway, Glad to know you all.
I started on the website side of Susan's. Back in jan of 2005 I had been looking for places to post the address. I found my way to the homepage section of susan's. After a half of year, I finally noticed one day that there was a forum section. I browsed it a bit, then joined. At that time I was mainly interested in fashion. My early posts are all about fashion and sewing mostly.
In the early summer of 2006, I found my way to the genderqueer section, which I had never noticed, which eventually became androgyne section. Which is now a section I love, and feel comfortable in.
I have been to the chat a few times. Nice chat people, but I type too slow I think for that part of the site. Forums I can type over several hours, and get responses several hours later, even if I am not on at that time.
I was feeling lonely and i'm kinda anxious to meet other ts which i'll have to soon so i thought meeting other online would help.
I wanted to get information on gender identity from other people. This is my first site away from home and I can already tell the differences in opinion.
Quote from: HelenW on March 10, 2007, 08:00:33 AM
Quote from: Melissa on March 09, 2007, 04:22:48 PM
I found this site during my research to figure out what the heck was wrong with me.
Melissa
Me too.
I kept coming back and eventually became a member (I lurked for about 5 months) because it became very obvious that Susan's is filled with wonderful, supportive people and that it is kept safe and free from the types of predators who use the subject of ->-bleeped-<- as a target for their hatred.
It certainly ain't the paycheck! ;D
hugs & smiles
helen
Ditto.
depression did it to me and I had no one, no one at all. "Susans Place" saved my life. (the members of "Susans Place" saved my life) THANK YOU :icon_drunk:
Quote from: Lucy on May 18, 2007, 10:13:24 AM
Quote from: HelenW on March 10, 2007, 08:00:33 AM
Quote from: Melissa on March 09, 2007, 04:22:48 PM
I found this site during my research to figure out what the heck was wrong with me.
Melissa
Me too.
I kept coming back and eventually became a member (I lurked for about 5 months) because it became very obvious that Susan's is filled with wonderful, supportive people and that it is kept safe and free from the types of predators who use the subject of ->-bleeped-<- as a target for their hatred.
It certainly ain't the paycheck! ;D
hugs & smiles
helen
Ditto.
depression did it to me and I had no one, no one at all. "Susans Place" saved my life. (the members of "Susans Place" saved my life) THANK YOU :icon_drunk:
We'll see how you feel when you finally receive the bill. (just kidding)
Quote from: RebeccaFog on May 18, 2007, 10:56:57 AMWe'll see how you feel when you finally receive the bill. (just kidding)
ouch lol already paid 159 hours and they want more before they even consider me a friend... :-/