The first time I came out to my mom I didn't really explain how I felt and who I am...but last weekend she kept using masculine pronouns (etc.) and I lost it on her...I pretty much just made her realize that this is who I am and this isn't going away.
She still thinks I'm crazy or mislead..but I plan on giving her some info about trans people. It's basic and not technical...
The only problem is that I feel like she should be on here, talking to someone that can answer her questions (about Christianity and LGBT, misconceptions, and fears). But she has a paranoia about the Internet and that it is going to reveal her most intimate information just by her posting in a completely anonymous way.
Is there any way I can convince her to try out this forum?
Or is there any other way to help her through this besides informative websites?
Gender therapists are excellent with this sort of thing to help you and family members alike, but if there's no therapist here are a few good articles that I showed my mom if you haven't seen em yet...
http://community.pflag.org/document.doc?id=495 (http://community.pflag.org/document.doc?id=495) (lots of other great pflag publications for families here (http://community.pflag.org/freepublications))
http://web.uvic.ca/~ahdevor/14StagesBLOCK.pdf (http://web.uvic.ca/~ahdevor/14StagesBLOCK.pdf) (helps if you highlight the parts that you connect with)
You could always try to get her to use this website, but honestly (at least for my mom) I didn't think it would help as much as just talking to her and educating her myself given my own specific situation. I did tell her about susans, too, and she was happy hearing about it but didn't seem that interested in using it herself.
However, I'm sure if your mum posted a thread here and had questions, the members of this forum would be MORE than willing to help answer her / provide peace of mind / support both of you in the kindest way possible.
Do what seems right at the time. Maybe just try showing her the forums as a way to reveal the vast layers of international support that we all have being trans*? If she seems interested in getting involved then sure it's a great idea!
Thank you for the pflag link. I am used to the Canadian pflag site, but it seems that the American site has more/better information.
I don't think she's taking it well. But at least she fully understands that I'm transgender and what that means.
It's interesting that you posted a link to the 14 stages paper, as I was thinking about using that as a resource.