Vanessa Storrs
09-21-2011, 09:55 PM
A rew years ago I realised that I had little to lose if I were to be out and honest about being a crossdresser. I am retired and have no worries about my employment. I am single and have no concern about surprising a spouse (and if I ever get serious with someone I will be honest about crossdressing early in the relationship.) Finally I have no intention of running for public office.
The only hangups over outing myself was my own inertia and fear of the unknown.
The first person I outed myself to was a friend. Steve is a bit lacking in social skills and has had some serious mental problems but happily is now doing better. I inherited him as a friend as he was a loner in one of my college classes and started hanging out with a few of us, the others in the group moved on but Steve remained. I outed myself to him one Monday after I had gone dressed to a club in Reno. Steve asked me what I had done the previous weekend. I gave him a generic answer about going to a club in Reno. As he persisted in asking for more details about my weekend I became exasperated and finally said, "OK, I'm a crossdresser and I went to a drag show at a gay bar in Reno wearing a dress."
His reaction was beautiful, it was the same look as someone who has just received a severe blow to the head. After the shock was over he was fine with the concept of my being a crossdresser.
The second person I told was my brother who is a Methodist minister. Jim is very conservative-not necessarily politically but in conduct and attitude. We rarely see each other once or twice every five years is our average, we occasionally talk on the phone and exchange e-mails so we do maintain some contact. We met at a family reunion a few years ago them made arrangements to meet for lunch later in the week. We had a normal conversation at lunch until his wife went to the restroom, Jim mentioned that Tammy Faye Bakker had died recently. I mentioned that she was regarded with some reverence by some of us crossdressers. He lit up and asked if I wore makeup, I said I did then he asked, "Dresses too?" again I said yes. About this time his wife returned to the table and my brother quickly changed the topic of conversation. He has not brought up the subject again although he made tha same mistake Steve did by asking about my weekend activities.
My first two experiences at outing myself were complete successes. I was honest and the people I told were a bit uncomfortable at first but became very accepting. If there is any interest in my story I shall tell more of how I have outed myself to others.
The only hangups over outing myself was my own inertia and fear of the unknown.
The first person I outed myself to was a friend. Steve is a bit lacking in social skills and has had some serious mental problems but happily is now doing better. I inherited him as a friend as he was a loner in one of my college classes and started hanging out with a few of us, the others in the group moved on but Steve remained. I outed myself to him one Monday after I had gone dressed to a club in Reno. Steve asked me what I had done the previous weekend. I gave him a generic answer about going to a club in Reno. As he persisted in asking for more details about my weekend I became exasperated and finally said, "OK, I'm a crossdresser and I went to a drag show at a gay bar in Reno wearing a dress."
His reaction was beautiful, it was the same look as someone who has just received a severe blow to the head. After the shock was over he was fine with the concept of my being a crossdresser.
The second person I told was my brother who is a Methodist minister. Jim is very conservative-not necessarily politically but in conduct and attitude. We rarely see each other once or twice every five years is our average, we occasionally talk on the phone and exchange e-mails so we do maintain some contact. We met at a family reunion a few years ago them made arrangements to meet for lunch later in the week. We had a normal conversation at lunch until his wife went to the restroom, Jim mentioned that Tammy Faye Bakker had died recently. I mentioned that she was regarded with some reverence by some of us crossdressers. He lit up and asked if I wore makeup, I said I did then he asked, "Dresses too?" again I said yes. About this time his wife returned to the table and my brother quickly changed the topic of conversation. He has not brought up the subject again although he made tha same mistake Steve did by asking about my weekend activities.
My first two experiences at outing myself were complete successes. I was honest and the people I told were a bit uncomfortable at first but became very accepting. If there is any interest in my story I shall tell more of how I have outed myself to others.