There's been a thread (or two, or three, likely more) that talks about what to do when one encounters a member of our tribe in public. Well this evening I was "encountered" and here's my letter to "A".
Dear "A",
Thank you for outing me tonight. No, really. It meant a lot to me that while minding my own business and browsing in Victoria's Secret, you saw me for what I was...a tranny.
Sure, your introduction was kind of odd.
A - Hi, I'm "A", what's your name?
Sara - Ummmm, Sara.
A - Nice to meet you.
("A" walks away.)
(It'd have been kind of creepy if I didn't seen the innocence in a rather young-ish "A" showing through.)
Only to return less than a minute later.
A - You know, there's a transgender support group that meets at the LGBT center on Wednesdays.
Sara - Thanks but I'm not really into the support group thing.
A - Oh I see, you're self-supporting.
Sara - No, I've been at this for quite a long time, I'm not looking for a group, but thanks anyway.
It pretty much ended there.
So what did we learn from this little exchange?
1. It's rarely a good idea to approach the trans in when she's minding her own business.
2. When in doubt, see #1.
Seriously, this is the first time something like this has happened to me. Of course I've been read before and in fact, I expect this everywhere I go (makes life a lot easier). But really, I didn't need you to get in my face and say "you're a tranny and I can see it, and I bet everyone else can as well"). If I were having a bad day for whatever reason, or if my self-confidence was fragile in any way, such an exchange could have been really gotten me down. Instead, it rolled right off like water off of a duck's back but still, I thought it was important enough to share. What if it was a newbie that you encountered? It could have sent her back to the closet.
Me? I think I'll go out again tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Sara