I wish I had known sooner!

My name is Melissa. I am 23 years fine. Female, but would I guess classify myself as a soft butch? (You can look at my photos and judge for yourself, I'm all for that). Although I tend to identify as female more than anything else, there are still issues I have about my body the way it is, though I don't know that I would ever want to transition. I really hate this whole binary gender shindig.

Anyways, clearly I am new. I have been completely out to everyone in my life since right around the turn of the year 2005-2006(Senior year of high school). By completely out, I guess I mean family, friends, etc identify me as a lesbian. I don't really talk about my gender issues because it's not something I completely have a grasp on myself. This would have been so handy then, as I knew I was gay as a freshman in high school... but tried really hard to hide and be straight.

Where do I stand in life now? I am fortunate enough to have an extremely supportive family, and have been able to go to college. In college, I was president of my university's gender and sexual diversity alliance, participated in student government and served on a committee dedicated to making the university more queer friendly. There were other activities (not related to GLBTQ issues) as well as work.. and you know, class.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in June of 2010. I am currently gainfully employed at a job that requires a degree (which I know is very fortunate in this economy) and living back in the town in which I went to high school.

I am dating someone, and have been dating this lady since early November. That's an interesting story in and of itself, but more of that can come later. And it will, because it can be a sticky situation (she is out to pretty much everyone except her parents, and although she was in my graduating class in June of 2010, she has not been as fortunate as I have to find employment that is more than part-time retail, and has thus not left their residence). I am hoping that the experiences alongside the personal encounters I've had as well as formal training I've been able to attend concerning the GLBTQ community will come in handy here, and I hope that I can learn more about myself and get advice on my own life as well. All relationships are two-way streets, after-all (the ones worth having, anyways).


There's your reader's digest version, so I guess all there is left to say is hello, and I look forward to getting to know you all!

 

It's fair, I am a fairly awkward individual myself.