It’s Transgender Awareness Week and i’m the gal bringing that awareness to tmb. a poll found that something like 90% of americans personally know someone who is a lesbian, gay, or bi but only 20% know someone who is trans. if you didn’t know any trans folks before reading this, you do now. From glaad: Human Rights Campaign’s resources for Allies https://www.hrc.org/resources/allies HRC’s 2021 report on Fatal Violence https://www.hrc.org/resources/fatal...r-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2021 Unerased: Counting Trans Lives (a high quality feature article) https://unerased.mic.com/ Frequently Asked Questions: https://transequality.org/issues/resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-transgender-people random trans memes from my camera roll Spoiler
Glad you’re able to live your true self. Glad this community allows you to do that. However small a part we play in that.
Hell yeah. Been slowly trying to piece together a documentary on Faygele Ben-Miriam (who was not trans, but was a massive pioneer that mashed every fucking button possible during his life to try and best ensure equality for all)
Pretty fun coincidence that it's trans awareness week and I just reconnected with a trans friend this past weekend. Easily the smartest person I've ever known. We were best friends for a stretch growing up but just grew apart after HS. I only knew she had transitioned because we're still friends on Xbox Live and she changed her gamertag and profile name around Christmastime last year and since I keep a very small friends list I noticed the change, looked up the new name, and found an article about her and her partner not being able to take part in their first pride parade last summer because it was canceled due to COVID. Anyway, Forza Horizon 5 just came out and it was cool seeing her gamertag as a drivatar in-game for me and I knew she was playing the game. Then Friday or Saturday she sent me a rivals challenge. I got on and beat it and didn't think much of it because it may have just been automated. Then Saturday night I get an Xbox message from her saying she just spent 40 minutes trying to beat my lap time. I had not spoken to her in any form in probably a little over a decade and it ended up being a video game that reconnected us. Had a lengthy chat via Xbox messages and exchanged Discord info so we can catch up more sometime this week.
Thanks for the info glimmer. I read it all and learned a few things but was pretty happy to find most of my knowledge was pretty up to date. Happy you’re here and that you wanted to share your true self with us.
Glimmer did you used to have a different name/avatar or have I just not seen your posts until recently?
She did she’s been around a long time, since the beginning I believe, I’ll let her share her former name as she sees fit (just spent 30 seconds changing pronouns my brain is no good)
i name changed on here from Spike 80df a few weeks ago. this account’s been around since 2016 or so? but i originally joined in like 2010 when i was in college and met Odin but lost that account in the big crash years ago. if anyone frequents the beer thread, i gave away a bottle of 3F homage back in the day and did quite a few trades
I'm glad you changed your name to something you like but Spike 80df always got an inner chuckle from me.
good shit glimmer my school district allows students to use preferred names on their official records now which is p cool but we still have a few fuckos regularly deadnaming kids.
Really glad you feel comfortable sharing here and I’m glad this board has changed significantly since 09. I can’t even imagine what it’s like being trans in I’m assuming? Alabama but you’re incredibly courageous no matter where you live. Thanks for the info
Not to throw a Debbie downer post in here - but this is some of the shit trans people go through. This happened last week week to a 15 year old while everyone around is pulling out their cell phones. https://www.advocate.com/crime/2021/11/15/shantae-payne-georgia-video-beating-trans-pebblebrook-high
How many trans students you think are in your school/district? Out of curiousity When I was in Hs we had maybe 1-2 openly gay students out of 2500 or so and they drew a lot of attention. Very sad in retrospect
i’m at a middle school with about 1200 students. we have two trans students that i’m aware of. i would guess close to a couple dozen non-binary students though. unsure district-wide.
that policy is awesome. glad to hear the kids are being supported. i can say for sure that if you could take 11/12 year old me from the past and raise her in today’s society, i would have known for sure i was trans in middle school. that just wasn’t a thing in the early 2000s and i completely lacked any context for those feelings
If you don't mind my asking, was it that kind of finally allowed you to process that feeling and how old were you?
Thanks for sharing glimmer and this place still amazes me that something like this can be shared on a "college football board" and be so supported. My oldest child (almost 5 now) was born as what we thought was a girl, but since they could talk has insisted they are a brother and a boy. Sometimes referring to themselves as a boy and a girl, but never just a girl. We are using neutral pronouns for now and are using the new name they picked out for themselves as well. We have pulled down pics of them from social media of them wearing feminine clothing, etc.. getting our family used to the changes, especially since most of this happened during COVID lockdown, has been a challenge. It's amazing how difficult it is for people to make that transition, even if they support the change. As parents it has been difficult to accept, but once you get over the initial "is this really a thing?" and begin to educate yourself it's clear their happiness and the support your child needs from their family is what's important.
My sibling-in-law came out as non-binary about a year ago, and my wife and I were pretty worried about her huge blue collar Navy Vet family embracing them. I'll be damned if the whole crew of Vietnam and Korean Navy Vets havent given it a valiant effort in always to do their best to use "they/them" pronouns and at least correct themselves when they slip up. It's not that hard when you're not an asshole.
Very good HS friend who I still keep in contact with transitioned about 1 year ago or so. One of the funniest and smartest people I know. Very happy that she is happy. I'm sure there have been and are a lot of bad days. I cannot imagine how difficult it can be to make that decision, inform family/friends, go through with it, the constant doctor visits, etc.
this was honestly so amazing to read. as someone who gets no communication from her parents except “find peace in jesus” texts from mom, i can say that they are so very lucky to have you as parents. i had a few happy tears seeing how much you love and support your child
one of the most irritating anti-trans talking points is the idea that any of this is done on a whim. these are all very deliberate decisions we make, often with intentional hurdles for us to get past. something i find myself saying kind of often: my life is so much better since i started transitioning and came out, but it has also become more difficult. like, i’m absolutely terrified pretty much anytime i’m using the bathroom in public. sadly, that’s a too high of a bar for a lot of people to clear
I'm sorry to hear about this, like it is heartbreaking. I get that the older someone is when making the transition the harder it is to accept by people, and that parents have a projected view of who you are, but god damn I would rather swallow my pride and accept who they are than lose that relationship. Still my baby no matter what.
Fuck yes. This board makes me so happy. I remember when you originally came out to the board and how smooth that shit went. It was just a “oh really? Who knew? That’s cool though. I support you”. I wish more people handled shit like that.
exactly this. As someone who lost a child and almost lost another I can’t imagine caring who they love or being upset about them wanting to live their true selves. Your child is lucky. Wish the world had more individuals like you.
The "doing it on a whim" is like the cousin of 20 years ago people "choosing" to be gay. Why would anyone choose this much more difficult path unless they were especially sure before going down it.
i don’t mind, it’s been asked a few times now. i’ve wanted to avoid over sharing and being all “look at me” but i’d like to think more insight into my journey could help awareness/education. i remember the early days of the board… and the reception i’ve received here since coming out has been so overwhelmingly positive. it’s great. at the start of the year (age 29/30), i really began to question my gender identity and engage with the idea of being trans after joining the local warhammer 40k community and meeting then befriending several trans women. getting to know them grounded and made real all these thoughts i had for so long. for the first time, being trans wasn’t a punchline in a show or a SJW vs Free Speech culture war talking point - it was women living their lives and doing the thing i had wished for myself in more abstract terms. i found a therapist who helped me work through my identity and it became apparent pretty quick that i was trans. i processed all of it with my partner and slowly started coming out to friends and eventually family. then came out and transitioned at work and began the legal process of changing my name over the summer. i’ve been on HRT for a few months now and my only regret is not doing this for myself years ago. all of the changes have been so affirming. like i mentioned earlier in the thread, i knew by the earliest stages of puberty what my idea of my self was but had no outlet for those thoughts in a repressive evangelical household in rural alabama. there was a lotttt for me to unpack to get to my true self.