Okay so here is my story. I have grown up female but have always been attracted to other females. My high school years I found out that yay I'm a lesbian! Lol! But in the past I have also had secret conflicting thoughts about my gender. In college I read this book Stone Butch Blues and I think at that point my eyes opened. I had been sucked into the book like it was my own story. The only difference is I currently portray myself as a femme. But at that point in my life I had been reintroduced to my feelings of gender confusion. I would take part in drag shows and/or play the do i pass game with my friend. Those feeling subsided after I got out of college and now that I am in a fully committed (and very accepting) relationship I am starting to get those feelings again. I have told my fiancé and she told me I think you would be a hot guy. My heart kind of jumped when she said that. My conflicting thoughts now are... 1. How do I know for sure if transitioning is right for me? 2. How do I tell my friends and family what I am feeling? 3. How do I transition without loosing my job? 4. If I do decide to transition how do I go about doing it?
You might have a look here: http://emptyclosets.com/forum/gende.../167809-coming-out-transition-problems.html#3 http://emptyclosets.com/forum/anony.../147192-transitioning-where-do-i-start.html#4 3. You could look if there are protections for transgender people in your state, or with your employer. 4. There are basically two ways: a gender therapist / a doctor/endocronologist or informed consent via the next gender clinic near you. For coverage, some people were able to get a prescription calling it a horomonal imbalance. http://emptyclosets.com/forum/gender-identity-expression/148978-hrt-acquiring-process.html http://emptyclosets.com/forum/anonymous-gender-identity-expression/155345-what-can-i-expect.html#3 hugs
Hi, LezBFriends. I found your thread and wanted to share my thoughts with you. I know this feeling all too well. Any time I'm referred to with male pronouns, etc. my heart leaps -- no, soars. It's unlike any rush I've ever experienced. For instance, I was talking to a female friend of mine a few weeks ago and we were joking about having "royal" titles. I basically said something along the lines of "I have no desire being queen -- just king, mind you." When she told me "king" suited me perfectly I couldn't contain my euphoria. 1.) Other than the advice previously offered, I think time and a lot of soul-searching helps. Do you have a help group in your area you could join? (I really should follow my own advice, here.) 2.) It's hard -- so hard -- for me to admit my gender dysphoria to those I know IRL. I'm fine with acknowledging my sexual orientation but I stumble on my words when it comes to my gender. When my husband and I were dating, I told him pretty much point-blank "I'm not a woman, so please don't refer to me as one." He didn't run for the hills but I still find it difficult to talk about my conflicts in depth, despite his acceptance. (I think a large part of this is because he loves my body as is.) 3.) Check out your state legislation. My state, for example, does not have a hate crime statute so I could easily lose my job, etc. if I were to ever transition. 4.) Jay77 has provided some wonderful advice for you here. Much love and hugs. Please don't be a stranger. Dots
Polka Dots, In my area there isn't a known lgbt center. The closest one i know of is 50+ miles away. And as far as state legislation... I live in a state that has banned gay marriage and any other gay rights multiple times. So I'm pretty sure I would loose my job. Well I will do some soul searching and hopefully with the research I have been doing added to that I will find the answer! Thank you for putting your "two cents" in on my rambling confusion.
Okay so i have done some extra research on Transgeder Rights in my state and could either of you two help me decifer what exactly this means? "State or local government employees are protected by state constitutions and laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in employment. Additionally, executive orders in Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania explicitly prohibit gender identity discrimination in state employment." So either I am just refusing to believe what it's saying or i'm reading it wrong. So to what i understand ONLY sate or government employees are protected from discrimination in the work place. Am i reading this right?
This is for state employment. I'd advise you to contact the next lgbt center. They most probably have email and phone. You could say its too far away. You might look up lgbt centers... support groups... and transgender groups and centers... here is another source, they have a database: GLBT National Help Center
