Hi there, I went to the gender counsellor at my LGBT centre, and he suggested two things I haven't tried doing yet - one is to try using various pronouns to refer to myself and see how it makes me feel. Another is going to the LGBT centre's trans support group this weekend. I'm a bit nervous about it to be honest. I've gone there a couple of times to the group, to support someone else. I've not ever gone on my own for myself. I just feel a bit weird about it. I have friends who will be there, and I know at least half of the people who regularly attend. My friends (those friends) know I'm questioning, but the other folks don't. I don't know how to verbalise my discomfort, but I think you all probably understand. It's like I'm revealing something about myself...and well, it scares me a bit. Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? I've been trying to take some other small steps to understand my gender a bit more. I managed to get a few male and I suppose androgynous clothes, and cut my hair even shorter (i was a little impulsive with the shaver, but I needed to do something, and it definitely helped me feel better, though it's not the best haircut...), I saw the gender counsellor at my LGBT centre and that helped me verbalise a lot as well. I've still been feeling some discomfort with my chest, but I've found some ways to minimise it a bit (my chest is small anyway). Now that I have guy's trousers I think I can try using something like a sock maybe to see whether I feel maybe packing will help me feel some relief. Eventually I think I want to get a packer. It feels good to be taking some steps but I'm still feeling really unclear about my gender. ---------- Post added 15th Nov 2016 at 11:27 AM ---------- *note - I meant to say that the three friends I know who will be there do know I'm questioning, but the other people in the trans group, many of whom I know from attending the group and other LGBT events, don't know I'm questioning. (In case I was unclear)
hey jedi, i actually just came back from Trans group.... if yours is like ours you dont have to say anything, the mental act of saying im there for me to yourself might be a small step to start. next time maybe take another....
Good for you hun! I wish there was a trans group here, but I can't find one. Maybe I'll just head to the GSA at school....
Thanks lookingforme and cluster for the encouragement. I'm definitely going tomorrow to the meeeup. And it's an important day as well, at our centre it's Trans Remembrance Day. So I want o be there to pay respects as well. Lookingforme, you're right, even just knowing that I'm there for me is enough without necessarily opening up. But it's nice to have the opportunity to do so, and maybe next time I will. Cluster, it's really too bad there's nothing like that in your area. What about meetups? I wonder if you can find even just a casual group to meet and find support, even for social events.
