Sarah (my girlfriend who is trans) met my mother and father. It took them two years, but I feel like things are working out between my family, Sarah, and me. Dinner went fine, we laughed, my dad made Sarah eat (he told her she was too thin and needed food. It is his way of showing he cares). Finally, my mother pulled out the photo album and showed all the embarrassing pictures. My father invited her again and told her that she is in her home. I was elated that things went well. My parents have changed significantly since two years ago. My father finally stopped using male pronouns and only uses female pronouns to refer to her.

We were in the car one day, and we were talking about how Sarah is still semi-closeted with her family. Her family told her to keep her gender identity at home, in private. My father says it is hard to accept a child who is gay or trans as parents sometimes, but that as parents, they have to be proactive about their accepting their child. Parents can't expect for a family to work if they don't do something to make it work. My brother came out as gay a few years ago, and my father says it wasn't easy because he had to change for my brother. Everyday he works on making my brother feel welcomed and loved. At the age of 50, he had to learn how to change notions to be in his son's life. And once again he had to do it at 57 for me. For my parents, talking to my sister and a counselor helped to become more accepting parents. They admitted, they needed help to not only understand, but to be more accepting. my mother wished me the best, and if Sarah is the best, she couldn't ask for more. She only wishes that Sarah's family could see what we see in her. I do too.

What a wonderful post! I am so happy for the both of you. Maybe with time the other family will respond. 

I'm so happy to read this! What wonderful parents you have, to make such efforts to change their way of thinking and open their hearts. That's so great!

That's nice.  So happy for you and Sarah that at least your family can accept her.

Thanks ya'll. I know her parents want me to come over their place. My parents are very traditional and rather conservative and would want to meet her family first. Sarah is worried because she is scared that our parents would start talking about her. My parents also call her Sarah, use female pronouns, and only seen her as a woman. It would be strange for us around her family, who seem to want to cover the sun with a finger (cubrir el sol con un dedo). My father understands her family's situation, but he doesn't like people who are, to a degree, bull->-bleeped-<-ting themselves. Mixing that with him getting easily worked up and physical changes after open heart surgery, I am worried he might start getting frustrated and his physical well being might be at stake. He developed arrhythmia, shakes uncontrollably, and has depression. I am concerned about our families' cultural differences and my father feeling frustrated that he can't get a point across because of the language barriers. I might put aside them meeting for a while. My mom would have no problems, but my father is set in his rather machista ways around her.