I haven't been on this board in quite a while, so I thought I'd log in and give an update to how I am doing.
I remember when I joined on here, I'd just come out as a CD and wasn't sure if I was trans or not. Well I can safely say that I am indeed a transsexual and after a LOOOOONNNNGGGG battle to get health insurance, I'm now working with a doctor to start hormone replacement therapy, which will be completely covered. In the meantime, I am completely out and open about who I am. I thought long and hard about some choices that I would have to make, and as such I made the decision to be visible while transitioning. I know a lot of TS girls want to stay stealth and that's perfectly fine, but after viewing the way I get treated out in the world and how my area seems to have a massive disdain for the trans* community at large, I feel that being out and open will do a lot for helping to bring about acceptance for our community as people can see that I'm not really any different from a genetic female, other than my being born with a few extra attachments.
In fact, my mom has become one of my biggest supporters, bragging on about her "oldest daughter" and recently when a distant relative told her that he didn't know she had a son, my mom went off on him saying that she doesn't. She has two daughters. It made me feel great.
I came out to my father and his wife, and both are behind me 100% as I go through this. My dad even introduced me as his daughter to people at a recent funeral.
I have had my name legally changed to Jessica and once I get the all clear from the endo, my primary physician has already said that she will sign off on my getting my gender marker changed. Also, I get that it may not have been everyone's first choice in their transition path, but I decided to work on the legal side of transition first, then work on the actual physical transition. It drives me nuts as I still have to deal with the whole thick body hair, extra attachments hanging about thing. But I'm kind of forcing myself to put up with it for now because I know that once I'm legally female (I live in a state where SRS or HRT is not required to change your gender marker; you only need a signature on a form from two doctors stating that it is medically necessary) then most of the procedures that I need will become covered by my insurance. I'm not about to put myself into more debt than absolutely necessary to fix a few things that I shouldn't have been born with in the first place. I felt that despite my irritations and dysphoria, I still want to be responsible about the whole thing.
I'm also back in school, this time pursuing a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership. I left my local community college after a bad incident with a transphobic professor, and transferred to a four year university. Now I know it's going to sound REALLY ironic, but the name of the place is Central Christian College. Now I'm not really a religious person, but as paradoxical as it may seem, this place is more accepting of me than the secular community college I was previously attending so far (knock on wood). I plan to run my own guitar cabinet making company, and I also am working to put together a PC tech youtube channel called TransTech. I and another transfemale friend of mine are both nuts about all things involving computers and she has agreed to help me run the channel and make videos. I recently built a very nice computer, and it will be the workhorse on which I start all of this.
So this is what I've been up to while I've been away. I remember someone on here giving me good advice about spending less time on the forum and more time out in the real world. Well I took that advice and it helped really shape and define who I am as a person. I recommend the same advice to other people as well.
