Thank you so much for sharing this. I have felt a bit disconnected from the idea of doing it primarily for the physical changes (not that I mind those, of course). I have basically given this explanation to my relatives about why I am undertaking this, and it is validating to see people who have had the same experience. My surroundings do not express this as deeply as I do, as those people seem to be focused more on the appearance side of things. While I just do not deeply care that much.

I have felt like something was deeply wrong with me, and this explanation resonates. I just have been a whole lot happier since starting HRT. I stopped feeling like a ticking time bomb, that can not handle my social interactions, and I just feel right in the world. Puberty made me disconnected from myself and the world, I remembered crying to songs that sang about being disillusioned with my own self and my body. But I never really wanted it to hit, I knew for a while, but just felt like it would take a lot and that I wouldn’t be strong enough. But here I am, and it wasn’t as hard as I imagined after all.

I basically left school and dropped most of my work and then came out. Even though I did come out 2 days before the end of my volunteering job, and they were very nice about it. I worked with clients who have an intellectual disability, for some reason they were all very good at adapting and also super kind. All the other people there already knew everything about diversity, as people who work in that field of care can’t do their jobs without being accepting of those things. They handled it very well, especially for me being a temp worker there.

On LinkedIn, I just changed my name and let it be that. Anyone who has questions asks, and anyone who doesn’t know just doesn’t. I lost some contacts and gained some, but it didn’t feel that bad. I know my situation is unique to me and there might not be a lot next to it. Coming out to my family was more of a hassle than anything else.

This is to say that every situation is unique, and every situation does need a different approach. I just wanted to share in hope to find some commonalities and come closer to the community. I hope it all goes well for you, and I wish you all the best.

I am here because I was used to good faith. I ended up not posting on Reddit for a while, and the used to be moderate places turned into hellscapes. TLDR and your wrong does nothing to enrich me after writing a pretty good paragraph. For example, on why autism isn’t all that bad. Just being positive about, or being autistic, makes you a mass downvote target in some spaces.

Then, especially when the Subreddits that were supposed to be one thing turned into another (for example, LGBTQI+ becoming toxic towards LGBTQI+ from the mods or the biggest trans server being transphobic at the moderation). I just quickly felt the need to find an alternative, and it made me end up here. I’d rather have posts that are not seen much, then being berated for no reason. I sometimes also end up having a pretty good conversation here, and it is nice.

Please elaborate