plix (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:27 pm I'm going to recommend being pretty cautious about telling people these things. I have to admit that one thing I've always been concerned about is the fact that you are so open with these issues (to people in real-life, not here on the boards - that I see no problem with). It is wonderful that you can be so open, but the unfortunate reality is that these issues are not considered something you tell just anyone, and they are not accepted and approved of by the majority of the general public.

As far as being gay is concerned, that I think has gained quite a bit more acceptance, and most people won't have any major problems with it. But being transgender is still not accepted by most people, even many who will accept that someone is gay.

Telling the fellow student would definitely have served no beneficial purpose as you have stated, and you were likely wise to not have said anything. As far as co-workers and friends go, I would only tell the closest of these who you feel really need to know. Telling casual aquaintances would probably be considered inappropriate.

Back when I believed I was transgender, I told a few people who I now regret telling. I now realize I was overly excited about my new identity and shared it inappropriately with people who didn't really need to know. Some of those people I no longer have contact with, but others I still do, and what I once thought I was makes things awkward in those relationships (at least for me).

I've also told most of my immediately family about my eunuch status and belief that I was transgender. Most of them did not approve. None really did approve, it's just that some were more tolerant than others. My relationship with my brother (who sounds a lot like yours) was probably forever destroyed by telling him. The only one who really doesn't know is my father, and what he can't figure out on his own he doesn't need to know.

It is nice to hear these stories about telling family members and having them respond with "I love you, Dad", but it is important to remember that these stories are one case. Just because those family members responded that way does not mean yours will too. Unfortunately just because someone is family does not mean they accept you as such no matter who you are. As many stories as I have heard of family members responding with love and compassion, I have heard many more of family members responding with hate and rejection.

Telling someone you are transgender (including a eunuch) is very, very different from telling them you are gay. Remember this.

Danya (imported) wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:16 pm From what I've been reading lately, even many gay people have an unfriendly view of transgendered people. 'The Advocate', a periodical for the GLBT community, recently ran an article on trans folks and some of the difficulties they face. The letters this generated really surprised me. One gay man said that being trans was 'a choice', for instance. Another reader wrote that transgender people didn't need to be in the fight for equal rights because they could get married. Never mind that they are discriminated against just like the rest of the GLBT community.

I appreciate your empathy, Mr. T

IbPervert (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:58 am Well i suffer from Chronic Depression...at this point in my life I just assume that everyone knows i am gay, and if they have a problem with it I will be glad to help them through it...but it is not my problem.

Also, you can never predicate what another person will say or do so why try?

We are all creations of Father God and Mother God, and they send us off the school/earth to learn. Then when we graduate/die we go back and tell them what we learned. How can anyone learn if we do not screw things up?