TG Classmates

[Lisa Gerrie]

I grew up in the 50s-70s. A lot of people my age have not moved past "I'm cis and anything non-cis is bad". Beliefs we're taught as children often stick with us on a primal level. It was worldwide news when Christine Jorgensen had the first modern SRS in the early 50s, and the general public thought it was bizarre, scandalous, and scary.

I'm on the committee for my 50th high school reunion, and I just found out that somebody I knew as Tom transitioned decades ago. Warms my heart. I hope Julie (middle name Thomas) comes to the reunion!

Social anxiety is a significant issue for me in drab, thank you very much, so my crossdressing is entirely private. Not even family. I can't imagine me going crossdressed to a party of 200+ of my high school classmates, much less going as a woman named Lisa.

A while back my sister told me she'd talked to one of her high school classmates, a transwoman, whose parents used to play cards with ours. She said that when the game was at our house, she was at home "upstairs trying on my sister's clothes". I really wanted to say "ditto", but I'm quite content with things just as they are.

[CharlotteCD]

I wouldn't go to my school reunion in male mode, let alone in female mode!

[kimdl93]

I attended an impromptu reunion last year. Beforehand I shared my secret with the female classmate that was organizing the event, not because I planned to attend en femme, but because we had been friends for a long time. She understood my reasons for wanting to keep it confidential.

[EmilyShy]

I'm kinda with CharlotteCD. I hated school and would really have to think hard if I went to a reunion or not. Like Lisa my social anxiety in male mode would also play a part but certainly would not go dressed lol

[Debbie Denier]

Agree with Charlotte and Emily. There are more people from school that I am more than happy to never see again.I also would experience social anxiety if I attended. I would be interested to know what my former teenage crush is doing now but thats about it.

[OrdinaryAverageGuy]

I love my reunions. The only trans person I'm aware of from HS was in a different class so I don't know if she goes to her reunions or not. If there's anyone trans in my own class I'm not aware of it. Thinking about it now, my gay/lesbian friends from HS do not go, I don't know why.

[alwayshave]

Lisa, My 40th was 4 years ago and I did not attend. I had a high school class of over 1000 and never have had any desire to see any of them again. High school was an awful time for an introverted kid such as myself. So, I have no idea if my classmates are TG.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I do actually have a trans classmate. We had a surprise meeting at the Keystone Conference several years ago. It's a funny story that I've told before, but I'll tell in again because it was so funny.

I was standing next to some random girl waiting outside the room for dinner and we struck up a conversation. I had registered at Keystone as Steffi with a fake last name that was the name of my home town. I just picked it because it was something I would remember. My name tag said "Steffi [Hometown]."

She: Did you know that there's a town in called [Hometown]?
Me: You caught me. That's a made-up last name. I grew up in [Hometown].
She: I grew up there also.
[I don't believe it. I'm thinking she's pretexting]
She: I went to Randolph High School.
[I still don't believe it. A lot of small towns in Massachusetts only had one high high school.]

We keep talking and the conversation turns towards the track team. She correctly names the coach of the track team. That was no lucky guess. That wasn't just a lucky dress.

It turns out that she did attend the same high school as me. She graduated the same class as me. She was on the track team with me. She had a track team locker next to mine. We were actually pretty good friends, but we lost touch with each other after graduation when I went out of state for college and she joined the Air Force.

Once I was convinced that I knew her the first thing I said was, "Why didn't you tell me 40 years ago." It was a rhetorical question. Neither of knew the other was trans 40 years ago.

We met again the next year at Keystone, and then she disappeared.

I went to my 50th reunion, en homme. She didn't attend.

[docrobbysherry]

Just attended our class of 1961 hi school reunion. We have them every year now! About 30 showed up from our class of 850.:straightface:

I was a immature jerk in hi school. Didn't know or care to know any of the "in crowd", popular, or jock kids. But, my 10 year reunion and then 20 year reunions were a big wakeup call for me and a lot of other unpopular kids in hi school! After we all grew up, all the hi school, social class, kid stuff vanished! The social, cool kids had been kicked in the teeth by life by then. And, a lot of the nobody's in hi school like me had become happy, successful adults!

Like I told a lot of my "loser" friends in our class, don't let your present insecurities keep u from meeting people u have more in common with than u realize! They were surprised by how accepting everyone is now that they've matured. And, so will u!:hugs:

I'm NOT saying CD's should go dressed, tho. I thot about it years ago but rejected the idea. Because that would have made that reunion all about me and I would have spent the entire explaining Sherry and what I do now as a dresser.:doh:

I prefer learning about what my classmates have experienced. They always shock me with their adventures and misadventures!:eek:
And, make me realize how lucky I have been and happy my life is by comparison!:)

[JennniferMcC]

I went to an all-boys high school, so if there were any female names on the attendee list then there's your answer...lol! But like some others here, high school was not a pleasant adventure for me so no I wouldn't be going, crossdressed or not.

[Diane P]

I have no intention of ever going to my high school reunion. I was a geek, nerd, whatever term you want to use. Most of the people in my class had no use for me, except for the few that thought it was funny to pick me up and put me in trash cans around the school. It usually took four of them. So I have no use for them and reason to ever go.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Lisa :hugs:, My 60th ( 1962 ) was last year , I have yet to attend any Reunion,

I didn't care for them in school , and I care less about them Now, >Orchid**O:daydreaming:O**

[Kitty Sue]

I loathed high school and you could not pay to attend a reunion. In my high school in New Zealand we had an annual "slave day" (that would not fly in the USA) where the seniors were sold off to the lower grades as a method of raising money for the senior trip. Imagine my delight when the girls who bought me made me dress up in hose and mini skirt and blouse. Great day, although of course I pretended I was not into it.

[Valeria M.]

I won't bother about high school because I was self-studying almost all three years then. College on the other hand is a different story. As if there weren't enough foreshadowing, my advisor is TS and one of my art professor is gay and married. The campus was not absent of CD, gender queer and the more "traditional" gays and lesbians. I would imagine some would go through the process of transitioning or whatever they deem fit for themselves. So if there is one place I would see as CD friendly for me it would be the college campus. Seriously considering the possibility of revisiting if not a reunion.

[Jeri Rene]

Like the others I have never gone to a reunion. I have no happy memories from my school days. Social anxiety issues, bully issues etc.

[Karren H]

Out of 72 (largest graduation class ever at that time) I do not know of any that are TG . My 50th was a during the end of the pandemic. I went to our 10th which was 14 or 15 years after graduation. Was not very exciting. Left that small farming village when I went to college and never really went back. I barely had anything in common with my classmates 50 years ago, I certainly have nothing in common with them now. Did have a cousins reunion last year. Really enjoyed it because we talked about our common relatives and genealogy which I have become very interested in lately.

[Lisa Gerrie]

If somebody wants nothing to do with reunions, I definitely get it, lots of people feel that way. But for what it's worth, are you the same person you were in high school? Me neither. I live in my home town so I know a lot of people from those days. My best friend from school unfriended me on Facebook because of politics, my nemesis grew up into a good guy. Like somebody said, it's interesting to see your old crush (she's still got it) or how the captain of the football team turned out (not well!), who's in prison (my bully), who became a millionaire, who got married seven times, who's an alcoholic... who became a woman? Statistically, by your 50th high school reunion, 25% of your senior-year classmates will have died, so there's that. I was not popular with the kids I went to high school with, never had a girlfriend or even got invited to a party. But I feel like I'm well-liked by the adults I went to high school with.

Anyway, when the time comes, maybe consider going. Sorry if this is off-topic, but most of the replies are so negative. We now resume our regular programming.

[OrdinaryAverageGuy]

What Doc and Lisa both said about going even if you weren't one of the cool kids (I sure wasn't!) The social cliques are dead, the nerds have risen, the cool kids have been humbled.

If I was trans and wanted to go, I'd go as the new me. As I'm only CD, there's no way I'd go in a skirt any more than I'd bring my stamp collection if I had one.

[Joan58]

My good friends opinion on high-school reunions is this; If they were assholes then,they are still.If they are not, they are not the same people you knew.

[BrendaPDX]

A lot of interesting posts on this topic. I see both sides. I went to my 25th and the main speaker talk and talked about the amazing graduation party that I wasn't invited to. Then I met one of those "stuck-up rich girls" a few years ago, she was a cashier and stock person at a Harbor Freight store. I am strongly considering going again, some people grow, some don't. I still am not sure. My wife is definitely not going to hers. We went to the same high school, just fours apart.

[Claire M]

Interesting timing on this post. I just attended my 50th class reunion last weekend. I have to say that nobody attending was trans nor was there any talk that anyone was aware of any classmates who were trans.

I graduated from a neighborhood catholic high school in Detroit. Our class was about 200 kids. I wasn't in the "super cool" crowd but I had lots of friends and was involved in a lot of activities and sports. Afterward, I left for college out of state then moved about as far from the old neighborhood as one could and still live in the US. I did make it back for the 25th but many attendees this year I hadn't seen since graduation. I reconnected with a couple old friends and chatted with some folks more at the reunion than I remember in the 3 years we went to school together.

I drove the 2 hours from my current home back to Detroit, checked into my hotel, went shopping and dining all dressed as Claire, only changing to drab to attend the reunion event. A few times during the evening I pondered how I might have been received as Claire for the reunion too. In some ways it was a lot like my school years as I was just starting to dress back then. There I was, standing among the same people with the same fears of discovery.

On a lighter, more vain note ... the years have been much more kind to the males at the event than the ladies!

- - - Updated - - -

Quote Originally Posted by Joan58 View Post
My good friends opinion on high-school reunions is this; If they were assholes then,they are still.If they are not, they are not the same people you knew.
Joan58 I couldn't disagree with you more. Some of the biggest A-holes in school are now some of the nicest people. Time and life experiences have an amazing way of changing people. Sometimes it just takes 25 to 50 years!!

[Sometimes Steffi]

I wasn't the nerdiest kid in my graduating class, but I'm still kind of memorable. I was on the track team for 2-1/2 years, I got a lot of academic awards (Randies) in a public forum similar to the Oscars.

Plus, (and please keep this a secret girls) I was class valedictorian. But, it doesn't mean I don't need a spell checker or a calculator. My wife always teases me that I can't add in my head, and it's true. I tell her to do fractions, and she's lost. Never mind algebra, trigonometry calculus and much more.

[Snide_lobster]

I'm surprised so many have no interest in going to a reunion. I guess my experience was friendly enough, although there were assholes when I went. That being said, there were a lot of kids there with a great deal of potential (we were a college prep school of sorts), and I'm curious to see where they all land. I know some stories are already quite impressive and I'm closer to my hs graduation than the 10 year reunion. That being said, while I fully plan on going, under no circumstances would it be as Snide.

[char GG]

Mod note:

Please note the title of this thread is TG Classmates. Not, did you go to your class reunions? Please get back to the OP topic.

If you want to talk about going to a class reunion only, please start a new thread in the Lounge.

[docrobbysherry]

Thanks for getting us back on track, Char! In my long post above I forgot to mention that in our class of 850, 1961, I'm not aware of any trans or CD's. Unlike me, completely in the closet to my class mates, if we had any T's I'm pretty sure they wouldn't come to reunions!:sad:

We had a couple of guys that came out as gay some years after graduation. But, sadly they don't come to our yearly reunions.:thumbsdn:

[JulieC]

I had a friend in high school who was gay. Turns out, he was quite interested in me, but he was respectful that I had a long term girlfriend throughout high school. I'm about 99% straight, so it wouldn't have worked out anyway likely. But, I digress... I was at his home one time and he showed me a pair of red stiletto heels he had that he'd put on because he was practicing walking in them for a drag show. I was in awe. I couldn't bring myself to say anything to him. I'd never told a soul at that point, and didn't for quite a few years yet. He's the only one that I ever knew who was any of drag/cd/trans.

[Bea_]

I married my high school sweetheart who was an officer on the drill team. Were it not for her good memories from high school, I'd never have gone to reunions. I don't know of anyone from our graduating class that is/was trans and I was pretty much oblivious to what gay actually meant since it didn't involve me. Several classmates came out as gay over the years. Looking back, none of those who have come out are totally surprising.

[Natalie5004]

There were no TG people in my class of 197****

[Diane P]

A close friend of mine in high school, and later my brother in law for just shy of 11 years, came out as gay in 1985. My then wife's parents called us tp tell us, we were in West Germany at the time, I was in the Air Force. They told her he had come out as gay and she relayed the message to me.

[ChrisP]

Yes, and I'd known her since age 5.
She was always feminine, and one day when she came over to my house to play she spent the entire time playing with dolls with my sister (age 6). She never came back over after that, and I believe it was my mom who
didn't want her here.

She died of complications related to AIDS in 1988. She came from an extremely wealthy family that disowned her when she began her transition in the late '70's. Many of you probably know the chain of stores the family owns.
I still think of her from time to time.
Wish I had been a better friend.