I've been reading a lot about the transitioning of Chelsea Manning today. Now, obviously her case is unusual, and the timing of her announcement somewhat forced upon her by her circumstances. Maybe it's partly social/political statement, but it is worth noting that she's made the change almost literally as the first step in her process. She hasn't started any HRT, life experience, etc.
It got me wondering about less unusual transition stories and name changes. So I thought I'd as you all. At what point in your transition did you decide to make the name change? Not neccessarily legally, but maybe just in the sense of "Hey, friends and family, I've decided to go by the name Alison now and ask that you call me by that name and use female pronouns when addressing me." Did you do it early on? Only after you'd started developing on HRT?
And if you haven't yet: When do you plan to? If at all?
Online is one thing -- I'm already doing that -- but I'm just looking ahead and wondering when's the right time to "pull the trigger."