I tried to explain being genderqueer to one of my best friends (she already knows I'm pansexual) When I told her, her reaction kind of confused me. She said "No you're not! You're Nogitsune and you're beautiful." It upset me a bit because it felt like she thought I was saying I was genderqueer because I thought I was ugly as a female. I have had issues with my self image in the past, but that stopped once I accepted myself and stopped trying to force myself into a mold that didn't fit me. We haven't talked much since, she keeps trying to talk to me like nothing happened. This is the second time I've had this type of reaction to me coming out. When I was younger I told my mom I was pansexual, and she said I wasn't because I was too young to know what I was talking about.
That just proves how little they know about the terms. You know, when I was like 5 to 8 years old, I wanted to be a girl because I hated the things people said were supposed to be done by boys. Instead I like most of the things that girls did, so I kind of decided that if I couldn't be a boy and like those things, then I had to be a girl for those things to be okay. What I'm trying to say is, that maybe your friend thinks like I did back then, she believes you decided you were genderqueer because she weren't happy with your body, so that meant that if you are not happy with a girls body then that means you will be if you were a boy. I hope I'm not confusing you here, I'n not that great at explaining. The thing is, you should make her understand what your reasons are and not let her assume things based on past experiences. Sorry if it was confusing.
