Trans/Genderqueer/Agender/Questioning Thread

They'll be looking for Gabbo and get something better.

Early this morning I posted a gif of that rocket launch that MTV used to use in promos, then I posted at 11am today. It's out there. Aside from the rest of my company, who will find out the first week of July, I'm publicly out. I almost can't believe it. I have been waiting since I was 10 years old to be able to live this life that I want and need to, and now I can. I'm a little bit dazed tbh.

I have gotten lots and lots of love and support from my friends and family and so many wonderful comments and messages. To an overwhelming degree. This would have been unimaginable to me as a child or a teenager. I can't believe how fortunate I am today.

If any of you want to connect with me on FB my new account there is eliza.k.dennison . :)

Congratulations!

Thank you, E! And you will find plenty of additional support on the “No Boys Allowed in the Room” I bet!

I have been waiting since I was 10 years old to be able to live this life that I want and need to, and now I can

I choked up at this. I can’t identify with your *specific* circumstances, but it gets the feelings of finally being freed from various closets just right. Thank you.

Congrats, Liz!

<3

This warms my heart. Congratulations Eliza! <3

Congratulations Liz!

Do you prefer Liz or Eliza?

Hadn't been paying much attention to this thread, tbh, but now that I've caught up I just want to thank you for sharing this journey! Congrats!

go eliza! so so happy for you

congratulations eliza<3

Congrats eliza!

Congratulations, ___!

(I will wait until you dole out your preferred nomenclature to fill in the blank.)

Your journey has been truly inspiring. Thank you for sharing it with us. And remote thank yous to the lovely people in your life for being so lovely about it. It's a thing what stokes hope.

Eliza!!!

This is not a great picture -- it's a crappily-lit bathroom selfie at a local bar -- but it's one of the few I have right now. Until I get some more length on my hair and start HRT I'm wearing a wig and breast forms, as they're powerful external validators of how I feel inside. So, say hi to Liz.

https://imgur.com/a/gEuaeSq

how does it feel to post a pic of your real self?

Go Liz, you're free now

<3 Liz

It's kind of surreal to share a picture like that publicly. Even a year ago I wouldn't have imagined it.

This is your life now Liz!

Best of wishes to you, brave Liz

so proud of and happy for you liz <3

Congrats!!

When do u trade in your username for a new model? Just making sure you remember your highest priorities in the midst of this life-altering moment.

congrats liz, v happy for you <3

Aw this is very sweet and I'm happy for you.

<3 <3 yay liz!!

Congrats Liz!

Congrats & all the best in your new life!

:-)))

congrats, Liz! I hope everything goes smoothly at your workplace when the time comes

idahobit day is today/tomorrow!

Off topic but why oh why do these events use stupid acronyms which can't hope to represent everyone, and then revise and add until the "abbreviations" become so awkward and parodic that they are easily rejected as niche by the very mainstream who most need to accept them? Even a day against sexual / gender bigotry has mutated through IDAHO / IDAHOBIT / IDAHOTB / DAHOT, *none* of which mean anything to people not already friendly to the cause.
Also I'm in Australia, so it's *whatever* day here, I'm in my rainbow heart t shirt despite winter conditions, and not a single soul in my workplace or the part of the city I walked through, was wearing any kind of a rainbow. You suck, Hobart.

i have a rainbow ribbon, same story, not seeing anything anywhere

fwiw the acronym frenzy comes out of trying to include everyone, which is its own can of worms (creating one category to cover vastly different experiences dilutes each identity) but is the best we’ve got until (paradoxically) people stop being arseholes to other people. ‘queer’ is growing in frequency but is problematic for older people, indigenous people &c. who are accustomed to ‘queer’ having been a super-vicious term of abuse (mainly) in the past.

Oh I realise the logic (and agree with the intent) of the acronym growth. It's just that it seems very short sighted to focus on the satisfaction of having "my" initial in the alphabet clusterfuck, at the expense of making the terminology risible. My personal take is that it's always better to focus on the principle - don't be a bigot, duh - than itemising the specific group(s) covered. That way if a similar issue arises for another group, it's clear how to act, because we're committed to not marginalising people on the basis of sexuality or gender, and we're not checking if the letter is in the acronym. I work on equity committees in my workplace and often have to make this point - race, gender, sexuality, physical ability, mental health. "Don't be an Asshole" is the underlying logic, it just doesn't read so well on policy documents.
"Day Against Sexual and Gender Bigotry" covers everything, no?

Maybe someone in this thread will have a good answer for me.

My niece may be becoming my nephew soon. She came out as gay about a year ago, but her mother told my wife that she is transitioning recently. Over the weekend, her mother and brother were referring to her by a male name.

My wife and I tried to bring this up a little bit with my 7 year old daughter, who loves her cousin a lot by the way and will jump at any chance to go see her, and she reacted in a way that indicated that she was not thrilled.

Any good resources for explaining transgender topics to kids? 1st-3rd grade reading level.

My only experience about that is me and my gf explaining to my niece that I'm her aunt, not her uncle, and then my mom getting big mad at us about it. :/

Would it be better not to explain anything, just when they next see each other say "we're going to be calling <niece> "<nephew>" now"? Kids are more accepting of people, rather than concepts, so just let the situation resolve itself. She'll say a few awkward things and then adapt. If you make it into an educational experience or try to address it conceptually she might decide ahead of time how she will react, which is literally prejudice, instead of seeing that it's the same person with different naming.

I'd just explain that said niece gets to be the person they want to be, and even if your daughter can't understand why the niece wants to be male, you accept that it's just fine and you think she should, too. Then act like it is a perfectly acceptable change. She'll follow your lead, if a bit confusedly, and grasp it better later on.

Yeah! You could build on the truism "People get to be called whatever they want to be called" maybe, like, "You know how your friend's name is Gertrude but she likes to use her middle name, so we call her Amelia? This is kind of like that--[niece] asked us to call them [nephew] for now because it feels better that way. Everyone gets to decide their name and other things about them for themselves."

Another threshold crossed today: Cleveland PRIDE activities start tonight and go all weekend, so I decided to present in my workplace for the very first time as my preferred gender. I've been getting more comfortable but still a little nervous today, especially when I had to get on a small elevator with five men this morning.

https://i.redditmedia.com/D_AnrasnVjl54iDiFn_D2bkSGNlcAO92HgsgQoNhKiQ.jpg?w=418&s=9d204b1dbb6d90597dd29fb4fabe5b23

you look great eliza!

Thanks, Brad! <3

Yay and kudos...you!

(Still not sure if you prefer 'Liz' or 'Eliza'. It took a work buddy a couple of years to tell me he preferred being called 'Rob' to 'Bob' so now I'm like overly-zealous with double-triple-checking before I start slinging around diminutives like I know what's up.)

I'll be going by Liz, but wanted to avoid it in my username so as not to trod on the memory of the late ILX poster.

wow, Liz, that's great

liz you look fabulous i dig your whole style so much

You look absolutely great Liz!