I really admire your optimism and courage Elizabeth!
I suppose before any of this we were asking people to judge us for who they thought we were which is hard enough! Now we're making a statement about who we think we are. I think that requires either a lot of guts or a lot of pain to force the issue, or both. And many have already experienced violence and aggression even before this for not being "man" enough. It's easy to see why people get paranoid.
I think the article was written with a heavy dose of humour and sarcasm

But it IS hard. As you say yourself there are a lot of bigots about.
I'm so glad your experiences have been so much better than mine. From your picture you look great which I'm sure makes a massive difference!
I'm not disagreeing with you in the slightest and I absolutely love your attitude. My confidence has improved unbelievably since this and it's getting better every day. I hope one day I can see things as you do
