Sorry this is kinda long, but I thought sometimes it's good to share the positive experiences.
So one of my good friends runs the cafe at my college. I've known him for going on 8 years. And during that time he's always know me as a girl and by my birth name.
This semester is the first time I'm attending college as Abe and I've been slowly coming out to the students, faculty, and staff. But until the other day I had avoided talking to my friend. See, not only is he from a different generation (I've found older people to be less understanding) but he's also pretty conservative. Added to this is the fact that he's from Egypt and is used to a culture where gender roles are more strict and defined. And it had gotten to a point where I was avoiding him and feeling bad about it.
So the other day I told myself I would just bite the bullet and let the chips fall where they may. I saw him in the hallway towards the end of the day and started to catch up and he told me to meet him the cafe later.
As I was going over in my head how to word things, he came in. His two year old son went running towards him (his wife brings his kids at the end of the day). So my friend picked up his son and came over to me. He then said to his son. "This is Abe. Give him a high five."
It was awesome because not only did my friend find the perfect way to let me know that he already knew, but that he already accepted me. Why can't more people be like that?
That's awesome! It's always feels so good when you realize that you have a true friend. I wish that more people could be like that too.