Hi! My name is Ari and I'm a 23 year old trans guy from Canada.
I'm not actually out to anyone in real life yet (other than my cat), but I'm hoping I can be brave enough to do that soon.
I live in a very small, religious town where things like sexuality and gender are not discussed. For the longest time, I didn't even know what "trans" was. I knew that I'd hated my body since puberty struck, but I always thought that it was normal - that every girl felt the way that I did. Until I started talking to my (cis girl) friends about it - about how I wished that I looked like attractive guys instead of wanting to date them or whatever - and I realized that wasn't "normal." I thought I was just a lesbian for a while, because I thought that would be easier on my family, but when I started to learn about what "trans" actually meant, I started to realize that it's how I feel.
I've been out online for about a year now and I'm looking forward to physically transitioning and starting to present as the boy I am, but I'm worried that people won't accept me, so it's nice to find a place - even if it's just online - where people will.