Bigots are trying to use #ROGDWEEK2018 to spread lies and misinformation about trans people, so how about instead I be positive and talk about my story

I never presented any real gender deviations as a child and early teen, there just wasn't any spark, never really learned that being trans was a thing until late teens, and never had any chance to explore gender identity.

if i look back the first signs were that i hated how my face looked around my late teens, because its exactly the same as I feel now, especially my brow- since it looks so much like my dad's, yuck.

around this time i was actually exposed to the existence of transgender people and met a few bothonline and in real life, I wanted to know more so I took a uni elective on history of sexuality, which included transgender topics in its syllabus

It was a good and interesting class and i met and talked to a few other transgender people taking it, I had made my first twitter account a couple years back but this was when I really started using it.

I think not long after this I actually became friends with a few trans people on twitter and got to really learn about their stories and experiences, this was a period where either as a joke or subconscious overcompensating- I would mark my gender as "manly man" when asked

Eventually my family and I moved to Vancouver Island and I went to UVic, I had done some looking into and self reflection on gender identity, and decided I felt no attachment to masculinity, so for most of my time at UVic I considered myself demi and went by he/they pronouns

One of the final courses I took at UVic was "Alcohol and Social Control in Canada" which had a few openly trans students, prof was very inclusive and asked everyone for their preferred name and pronouns, this became the first time I openly went by "they" in a real life context

During my last term I also began questioning my gender further, and through a few conversations with a good friend that was going through similar feelings, I decided that it wasn't just that I had no attachment to being masc, I *wanted* to be femme

It was a liberating feeling, I had seen so many trans friends of mine and felt a strange feeling when they talked about the progress they made, I had thought it to be jealousy at the confidence many had, but it was really envy, it was something I didn't know I wanted until then

This official coming out was last March, but I haven't done much about it until recently, I tried girl clothes and loved them, found trans people in my city I could relate to, and found companionship that was supportive

I'm not currently trying to get on hormones, the biggest block fortunately just been the long waits between GP appointments

If I have any thesis from my story, its that I think its important to question your gender, and for other people to help on this, you often don't know if someone even knows its a healthy thing to do.

I've had friendly joking imply im trans and honestly, it really helped, I'm glad they did so, because otherwise I'd still be stuck.

@threadreaderapp unroll please