How Much, and When?

[danielleb]

I was recently reading through this thread Just found out my son is a crossdresser too (http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?144436-Just-found-out-my-son-is-a-crossdresser-too), and it got me to thinking. If you could go back and change your history, what would you have been willing to divulge and when? What would you want to see changed for future generations?
I know for myself a big obstacle was just being locked away in the closet and not having anyone that I could talk about myself too. If that would have changed I'm sure things would have been different for me, but I still can't really see having the courage to come out until well into my teens or twenties.
Just curious to see how others felt about this.:daydreaming:

[Cari]

One regret I have is sniping clothes when really young.
If I could go back I would be more open and apologize to those whose closets I raided.

I think the internet really changed the game ; It's a cliche but it really let me know I wasnt alone.
If it had been around in my earlier days I would have gotten out much earlier.
Its still a closet of sorts but it is a much bigger brighter one.

It seems trite but digital photography was another game changer : to be able to get an image without anyone developping it made things easier.

I see a very bright future for future generations.
My wishes for them would be:

1: That all the labels go away and the "T-world" support each other more.
2: That the T's would put aside their differences and work with the LBG since we all face similar discrimination.

The truth is I see that in the younger CD's already.

3: More serious research on the subject.
4: More positive press coverage of T's; also more positive events in the community.
I remember we had a food drive at a GNO, one brave CD went with the bar owner and donated it the event was in the local paper with a picture. Did a world of good.
My belief is that the CD world contains a cross section of the general population, but every time someone crossdressed does something wrong it gets top billing in the news.

[Stephanie Anne]

"What ifs" are the biggest detriment to self worth. We can't pull a Peggy Sue got Married so why even play this game?

I'm getting to do what I never could then and at a time when doing it is not as risky as it was then. So... not a thing I could do about the what if so why even think on it?

[Kelly DeWinter]

LOL, that easy i would not change a thing, I grew up in a time and an era and community, that divulging anything like crossdressing would have gotten me killed !

[danielleb]

"What ifs" are the biggest detriment to self worth. We can't pull a Peggy Sue got Married so why even play this game? ...

I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't really asking with the angle of how you could change your life, but more in how it can apply to changing the lives of others in the future. (Maybe watching the movie Milk last night isn't helping.:heehee:)

[Melody Moore]

One thing that has sparked my interest of late is how being intersexed, transsexual or a cross-dresser runs in families. My late younger
brother was very androgynous in his appearance, but sadly because he passed away in 1994 I will never know what his full story was.

Such was the case with Australian Motor Racing identity Peter Wherret (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wherrett#Personal_life), a cross-dresser who also found out his own father was also a CD.
Also see this video about Lauren (Lawrence) Cameron a Female to Male Transsexual and his sister who is Male to Female Transsexual.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6zRTX3kT-8

Watch on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6zRTX3kT-8

I think our kids need to know about us so they are not held back by what has repressed many us for so many years.

[Jenna Lynne]

"What ifs" are the biggest detriment to self worth. We can't pull a Peggy Sue got Married so why even play this game?

I'm getting to do what I never could then and at a time when doing it is not as risky as it was then. So... not a thing I could do about the what if so why even think on it?
I can see the value in what you're saying. It's important not to get stuck in the past, wallowing in the coulda-woulda-shoulda's.

But a couple of days ago, as part of some emotional work, I was imagining how my life might have unfolded if I had not been bullied in high school by a gang of older boys who called me a faggot and a fairy. They filled me with an enormous amount of fear about what people might think of me, which I'm still carrying around -- it's sort of built into my emotional being. I found it liberating, although rather unsettling, to write an alternate life story for myself in which I was accepted all the way along the line, and never had to deal with that kind of abuse.