Hi all,
I decided a while ago that I was going to transition. I'd done all the legwork by telling friends, family and employers. I'd spent time dressed at trans friendly venues. But before today I'd never been out dressed. I know, it seems crazy, like I've done everything the wrong way round, but I lack the basic confidence to do things that come easily to others.
Anyway, I'd arranged to meet another trans woman in Manchester. That involved walking across town, after which I expected we'd head off to the safety of Canal Street. Instead, we ended up in Primark, quite possibly the busiest shop in town. This was certainly a baptism of fire.
To cut a long story short, my friend clearly wanted to build my confidence by taking me to normal mainstream places, so at the end of the afternoon I was sat in a Wetherspoons surrounded by people watching the FA Cup Final (yay for Wigan! Just cos I'm a United fan).
No one seemed to care, and I didn't notice anyone staring at me. In fact the only person who had a problem with us was a guy in a pub round the corner from Canal street who had come in and sat down on his own on the table next to us, then clearly become offended by us talking about transitioning and loudly sighed and shook his head before making a point of moving to a different table.
The only other people who spoke to me were the barman (who called me 'love') and a guy who slid up next to me at the bar with clearly one thing on his mind.
So a pretty successful day all in all! I need to keep getting out there, then as soon as my hair is long enough I can go full time.
Thanks for reading this far!!
Amy x
