A few months ago I found a support for 20-24 yr old transgender gender queer etc.

My fear is that I haven't start transition or hrt I've just had a few therapy sessions. I'm afraid of the people there might not think I'm 'transgender enough' because I still dress masculine I don't shave everyday etc. 

I have never met another Transperson that I'm aware of and I don't know how I will react. I'm a very shy person with low self esteem and I don't wanna walk In to this support group and sit in a corner and not do anything. I know I'm probably overreacting so what should I do?

Forgive me for bad grammar but I'm sure most will understand me.

I went to my first TG support group this week. I am pre-hrt, and still present male. They were very accepting of me, and did their best to address me with the correct pronouns (which is kind of tough because I don't look the least bit feminine). I too was worried that they would not accept me. In the end, it worked out well. Good luck.

We all had to start somewhere.  And most remember how is was.

I recently attended a couple of gender queer support meetings. It was a new group that was forming and like you I was quite nervous. The meeting was at a local pride office and I had never stepped into one of those either.

The people there were a very mixed bag and i thought i probably stuck out since i was in boy mode which doesn't look remotely gender queer. The people there were quite gracious and took pains to gender people as they wished. There were rules about how one should conduct yourself to avoid outing people or triggering people.

The next meeting I went in full blown girl mode - again, no one said anything and the meeting was conducted professionally.

Once I got over my fear of the unknown it was a nice meeting with a nice group of people.

You can go and just listen if you are shy. No one is going to make you stand up in front of the group or do anything embarrassing.

Quote from: Sarah1990 on June 07, 2012, 08:05:15 PM

My fear is that I haven't start transition or hrt I've just had a few therapy sessions. I'm afraid of the people there might not think I'm 'transgender enough' because I still dress masculine I don't shave everyday etc. 

I've been to a support group a couple times now. I'm a male-presenting androgyne, so I don't look fem in any way. Everyone else in the group was a transitioning MtF.

Despite that, they were incredibly, welcoming, incredibly supportive, and made a point of saying out loud several times that they welcome anyone, nobody is ever turned away, etc. It was a good experience. Despite being the only male-presenting person in the room, I'm definitely going back.

That being said, if the group is not supportive or welcoming, don't go back. It's not a long term commitment.

Good luck Sarah. Let us know how it goes.

The group I am a part of has a few members who turn up straight from work in drab and we all know them by their preferred names. Everyone understands what it is like at the start.

Karen.

No worries with that, I went to my local support group wearing mens clothes and hadn't shaved for a few days. People were still friendly and helpful. I think you'll find everyone in different stages.