Hi! I'm Amy. I was assigned male at birth but that's never been who I am. My mom told me a couple of years ago she would have named me Bella if I'd been female assigned but that didn't happen and it so happens I prefer Amy. It was kind of rough growing up because I was very artistic and imaginative in a small southern city where those things weren't exactly prized. Especially if you were always pretending to be female characters like Pippi Longstockings or Blossom Culp. My earliest friends were the girls next door and those days were pretty cool even if I got plenty of scoldings for wearing their clothes. So I retreated into the world of books and movies and art and all that stuff. Later I got very into punk and grunge and alternative music and sang in bands. My idols were Kim Deal and Madonna. Eventually I made peace with my gender identity and started transitioning, first into kind of a punkish/skatery androgyny and later when I was more independent into kind of a femme style, I suppose. These days I'm really into anime and manga and cosplay as well as art and music and all that. Books, of course. I'm semi-out. For me, that means I've presented as completely female to some people I trust and I don't hide a lot of my affiliations but family and professional pressures have kind of stumped me at a certain level of openness. In my daily and professional life I present as male and lately I'm lacking the outlet I need. Plus I'm with a partner who's fairly cool with it and even encourages me in small ways but still can't make that final leap into both of us just openly admitting what otherwise should be patently obvious. Now I'm not in a big hurry to do more but I'm lately I'm feeling more and more lonely as far as making connections with LGBTQIA people. Also my partner is concerned I don't have enough friends outside our relationship! There are language and cultural barriers where I live that are both advantageous and disadvantageous. So what I'm saying is, I just need people to talk to who I can relate to on their own journeys, whatever those may be. People who speak the language, as it were. I had a therapist and she was really cool but we took it as far as we could go. I thought that would be enough but here we are. Anyway, I'm really glad to meet you and I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone. I try to be very positive and supportive because I really feel unconditional love is the most important force in the world.
Welcome! It's good to have you on board and I hope you will find people here who you can talk to and turn to for support and encouragement, when you need it. We're a safe and friendly community and you can tell us as much, or as little as you choose. Either way, I hope you will stick around and make yourself known to all of us, in your own way.
