I tried to come out to a friend about a month ago and we had to reschedule because she got the flu. Then I got the flu. So needless to say, we still have yet to get together. I finally gave in and just sent it as an email. If that won't make her contact me, I don't know what will lol.

So as soon as she reads her email, I'm outed. No going back now. I may still be confused a bit myself about the gender dysphoria, but my physical dysphoria is so strong there's no way it's going to go away. I'm tired of living two lives. They need to become one and they can't if I'm hiding all the time. I'm a little scared of her reaction when she reads it, but I'm feeling more relief than fear. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders where I can stop lying to the people I actually care about.

With any luck, you will be pleasantly surprised.

(And your 500th post - congratulations)

I actually expected good results from these friends because they are very open-minded. I was just a little unsure because it's a big stretch from being gay to being trans and most of their friends are gay. I got a response back from one of them (it was actually 2 sisters, but one email). Turns out they already had a friend go through transition so I didn't need to go into as much detail as I did and they were extremely supportive. In fact the tone of the response suggests they think I'm further along in my transition than I am lol. We're going to schedule a face-to-face soon to discuss too.

I'm still in tears just thinking about this response. Such a relief.

Great news Emily. It's always a good feeling when your accepted.

I'm planning on coming out to a cousin later this week if she gives me a chance to talk. I figure I'll tell her and soon the whole family will know. Makes it easier on me just telling it once. LOL

Hugs
Bethany

Quote from: Emily52736 on February 03, 2013, 02:30:41 PM
I actually expected good results from these friends because they are very open-minded. I was just a little unsure because it's a big stretch from being gay to being trans and most of their friends are gay. I got a response back from one of them (it was actually 2 sisters, but one email). Turns out they already had a friend go through transition so I didn't need to go into as much detail as I did and they were extremely supportive. In fact the tone of the response suggests they think I'm further along in my transition than I am lol. We're going to schedule a face-to-face soon to discuss too.

I'm still in tears just thinking about this response. Such a relief.

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing the outcome!  It's actually really reassuring to me to hear about people being supportive when you tell them, since one of my biggest fears is getting a negative reaction.  I've thought out a short list of people that I'm 99% sure would be supportive, but I don't feel ready to tell them yet.

I got a response from the other sister too, which was just as supportive. It actually turns out I'm not the second friend of hers to come out as trans, but the 4th! She offered to put me in touch with them too, but only one lives in my area. It's still a bit of a shock to me though. They were the first friends I did this with. It's a relief to not have to fake it, but I feel like I may be awkward around them for a bit.

I have two more that I think will probably be supportive, one that may be supportive, and another two that I'd fall out of my chair if they were supportive. Unfortunately I do have to tell the final two because they're my tenants. They'll know when I show up to do repairs on the house. The way I look at it with family, I really don't care if they accept me or not and I really don't have plans to come out to too many of them ahead of time. The rest will see the changes and either have to deal with it or stop talking to me. I didn't have a say in who my family was, but my friends are my friends precisely because they give a damn. So it really means more to me that my friends accept me, than my family.

Quote from: Bethany Dawn on February 03, 2013, 04:05:25 PM
I'm planning on coming out to a cousin later this week if she gives me a chance to talk. I figure I'll tell her and soon the whole family will know. Makes it easier on me just telling it once. LOL

I like the way you think.

Quote from: EmSchuma on February 03, 2013, 07:55:14 PM
Congratulations, and thanks for sharing the outcome!  It's actually really reassuring to me to hear about people being supportive when you tell them, since one of my biggest fears is getting a negative reaction.  I've thought out a short list of people that I'm 99% sure would be supportive, but I don't feel ready to tell them yet.

Yeah don't push it. You'll know when you're ready. I've thought about telling my friends almost every day for the past 2 months. I finally bit the bullet when the fate of my ability to get on hormones seemed contingent on being able to tell my therapist that I came out to more than one person. That was her hangup with me starting them, that I hadn't come out to enough people. I guess I could lie to her, but that's not really my style. I'm actually a bit too honest.

Quote from: Emily52736 on February 04, 2013, 12:03:15 AM
Yeah don't push it. You'll know when you're ready. I've thought about telling my friends almost every day for the past 2 months. I finally bit the bullet when the fate of my ability to get on hormones seemed contingent on being able to tell my therapist that I came out to more than one person. That was her hangup with me starting them, that I hadn't come out to enough people. I guess I could lie to her, but that's not really my style. I'm actually a bit too honest.

It's probably more important for me to get used to talking to anybody about it first (in other words, everybody here and my therapist), that way I can be more confident when it comes to people who already know me.