17 years old. With Gender Dysphoria. I kinda need honest advice.

Well, if you don't want to talk about it, there is not much anyone can do.

But if I may... I know a bit about what that is like. For years of my teenagerhood I never spoke to anyone and struggled with gender dysphoria alone. It scarred me in more ways than one. I have tremendous difficulty opening up and connecting with people in my life, but it got to a point that I had to at least try. And if you want things to get better for you, you must try. Doing nothing will result in nothing.

If coming out is unsafe, you're going to have to hang on a little longer. Perhaps waiting until you are able to move out immediately should it come to that with your family. I'm really sorry to hear that your family is against it. My family too is extremely oppositional to LGBT+ people, and when I came out as trans they said they would disown me. It's sad that these things happen, but we have to stay strong now more than ever.

Here's what I would recommend to you:

> Build a net of support. Come out to people you know will support you first. This can help give you the confidence you need to work up to harder people.

> Work on what you can, one day at a time. Identify your resources (local LGBT centers, EC here, allies) and also find ways to alleviate your dysphoria in the meanwhile. There are many products specifically designed to help trans-people, and also many methods to learn to relieve dysphoria.

> Identify goals. Do you want to come out and if so, when? What about therapy? If you wish to get HRT then eventually you will need to see a gender therapist. Work on setting small and longterm goals for yourself. Small goals would be clothing, haircuts, picking out a name for yourself, self care, and so on. Long term is like coming out, moving out, starting therapy, changing your name and legal gender, getting HRT and possible surgeries, organizing finances, and so on. Don't get too bogged down with big decisions. Take it easy and give yourself plenty of time to think about everything - you don't have to rush into anything you aren't comfortable with.

It's not a pain, and I'm sure everyone here at EC genuinely wishes to help you. Stick around. Share your story. There are always people here to help and talk to who are going through very similar circumstances as you and may be able to offer good advice. But in the meantime, take care of yourself, yeah?