Outed myself to my best friend

[traci_k]

Well, I did it. I finally told my first person outside my gender therapist that I was probably going to become a woman. He told me awhile back that his wife had asked for a divorce and I told him at that time I was probably headed down the same path.
So he was in the neighborhood and asked me if I wanted to meet up for a beer. So I did. Afterhe told me what he was going through he asked me what my story was. At first I hesitated because we're both Boy Scout leaders, but then I decided, why not?
So I asked him if he had ever heard the term gender dysphoria, he hadn't so I explained that it was when one's mind and outlook didn't match up with their body.He got it. Then I went on to explain that it seems to be progressive in many people and harder to keep control as we get older. And I told him I hoped that I could keep it together for the next couple years while my son was in Scouts, but after that I was most likely going to transition.
He took it all in stride, mentioed that he knew a guy in high school who went away and came back a woman, and that she was better looking as a girl than he'd been as a guy. We chatted a little while longer and agreed that when I started to transition my wife would probably want to split
After a few more minutes, we went on to talk about our weekend coming up at a dude ranch with the scouts and future outings we want to do for the boys. All as if it is no big deal. I guess what happens down the road we'll see, but it went amazingly well considering he's 20+ years army and a real man's man
I thought it went so well, I was almost giddy as we left.
Hugs all - thanks for being there with your stories and advice!

[DaniG]

That's great news! It feels good to come out, doesn't it?

[Angela Campbell]

That is nice to see when a friend is really a friend. I really do not have any so I will not have the problem of coming out to any friends, just to my family or employer. I guess I have always isolated myself so completely that no friends have ever developed, with exception recently to some of my TG sisters.

[Cheryl Ann Owens]

traci, that is very heart-warming to know! I guess that can be called the true test of real friendship. It must feel liberating! I opened up to some girl friends from high school and the support is purely awesome! I wish you the best on your journey!

Cheryl Ann

[josee]

That's great Traci. I'm glad it went so well for you. Thanks for sharing your story.

[StephanieC]

Glad it turned out well

[Stephanie-L]

When I told my best friend he was totally cool with it. The only problem is that he does tend to equate it with being gay, as he used to live in the gayborhood (no, he is not), but other than that he has been great........Stephanie

[nikitataylor0210]

I'm sure your heart was beating like a bat outta hell when you got to the being a woman part! kudo's on having the kahuna's to do this. Its always good to have support.

[Ciara Brianne]

I wish I could confide in all my friends like that. I live in a small community though, and if I confide in the wrong person, the entire town will know in short order. Unfortunately, the majority of the populace here is very closed minded and likes to ridicule, ostracize, and destroy anything that is different from them, their practices and social norms. Poor fools have no idea what all they are missing by keeping their minds closed to anything new. I'm glad to hear your friend was accepting.

[traci_k]

Thanks girls, it was kind of scary but things had been going well. My boss had been riding me for awhile because I hadn't been myself. (Too many pressuers were building up) so I told her about GD and my eventual need to transition and she seemed to be quite understanding so when my buddy opened up and asked, I just used the same explanation and let him know.
Fast forward a few days, We had our Boy Scout troop out at a dude ranch for the weekend. The place was filled with girl scouts and brownies and when we were in the chow line about 15 of these little girls started one of their little chanting, clapping games, he looked over at me and gave me one of these screwed-up faces looks of disdain for the girls.. Other than that, we still got along fine,. interestingly the talk often came around amongst our other leaders about the girl scout moms trying to be fashion plates doing their make-up and bringing way too many clothes for a weekend.
But all in all, aside from a blown water oump, it was a good weekend.
In the past, I'd always hid my interest in anything girly, but when they were teaching us coutry line dancing I was the first one out there to learn and try the "Cowgirl Scoot! It was a hoot! Still have a long way to go to learn how to move gracefully!
XOXOXO All

[traci_k]

BTW, another co-worker was in my office Friday and she knows I'm a little different too and we were talking about the stress our boss is under and so I told her too about telling my boss and she was very understanding also.
Perhaps it's good to ask them if they have ever heard of Gender Dysphoria, tell them about the mind and body not synching up and how it can be alleviated and how we are going to go about it. So including the therapist, that's 4 and counting and all positive. But nobody has seen me in a skirt yet. I think that will be when the reality becomes more than an abstract idea.

Just a thought.
Hugs All,

[Jennifer Marie P.]

tHATS GREAT YOU CAME OUT.