Assumptions of living in a small town

[Beverley Sims]

Chantal,
The reference to bigoted for a hick town must be a modern thing.

I have lived in what is now a hick town and I find no disgrace at all.

Times change and so does vocabulary.

Transvestite is almost a no! no! now.

Stacy B.....

Your Avatar tells it all.... :-)

Keep up the good work.

[STACY B]

Sarah Beth,,, That exact thing is what I live for,, There is a small country store right outside the Dirt pit where we go to get Soil,,, And like all small country stores there is ALWAYS a crowd of old timers , Unemployed, and just general hang around's ,, An when I see them outside even if I don't need anything I stop just to give them a show,, Funny thing is a Guy I have known for years owns the store who happens to be Gay,,lol,,, Irony at it's best,, Cuz you know I don't look like the rest of the Dump Truck driver that stop in,,lol,,,, SHOCK,,,SHOCK,,,,,, Give Um what they WANTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

[Veronica27]

But it all depends on the type of life you want to live if you choose to crossdress in your home town. If you’re satisfied with being a loner (spend most of your time among strangers) or if you limit your social life to people in the LGBT community, that’s OK, you’ll live your life unfettered save for the occasional stare. But if you expect family, friends, and acquaintances who are not associated with the LGBT community to support you being dressed to the extent they will invite you to their homes while dressed, invite you to their parties with other friends, or do things out in public with you dressed, then you may be in for a surprise. Many of our TS members lose friends and family when they come out.

This is very well stated. Personally, my life is much more than my desire to crossdress. I remain primarily closeted because my usual life is more important to me than my crossdressing.

I live in a very small community, (usually referred to as a hamlet) of a couple of dozen houses. Any shops or churches or other businesses have long since been converted into homes or demolished. There are several towns of about 1000 people or so within a short drive and we were originally a part of a larger township of about 10,000 population. In the late 1990's the Provincial Government required many towns and cities to amalgamate with neighbouring municipalities and we were absorbed by a city of about 35,000, even though we are in the heart of a rural farming area.

I mention this background because I have never encountered any negativity toward alternative lifestyles, either in my own Hamlet or in the expanded city. We had a gay couple living down the road for a few years who were well accepted. While I do not openly crossdress in my community, I have been dressed at Halloween and I now wear my hair in a long ponytail. I have always been met with approval by my neighbours. I feel I live in a largely conservative, somewhat religious redneck area, and find them to be great folks. I don't think you can draw any meaningful conclusions about people's understanding and acceptance simply by where they live, their politics, or their religion. There are good and bad among all people, including Cd's and Tg's. But then, this is Canada, and Canadians do tend to be a tolerant bunch even if that does conflict with my previous sentence.

Veronica

[flatlander_48]

The town where I currently live is about 11,000 people. Elmira, which is a bit under 20 miles away is maybe 30,000 and Ithaca is about 45 miles away and it is also about 30,000. Everything else would be postage stamps.

The area does still have some remnants of social conservatism, but there has been improvement over the 23 years that I have been here. My employer is the only major company here and has quite a bit of influence in the town. That's the big driver behind the improvement. How can you attract good employees if the town and the surrounding area is crap? Answer: You can't.

However, I don't have a good sense of the relative acceptance level here for those of us somewhere in the transgender spectrum. Over the past several weeks I have outted DeeAnn to 200+ people and I've chronicled this in another thread. So far I've noticed no particular reaction. Whether that is acceptance or a lack of interest, I can't say at this point.

DeeAnn

[melissa247]

i do know there are rumours about me as i have been called a sissy by some,and old friends whom i grew up with now avoid me like the plague even if they say hello it is only a quick hello i have to be going...so I am sure the rumour has spread and so be it..as far as i know it has never been anything anybody knew about me.but..it has been spread to even my new job which a co-worker looked at me and actaully said.."YOUR A FAG???""" i didn't say anything because this same person is a dink anyways so i don't give it much response or attention..if it is out and i am the only one who doesn't know then great it will make coming out easier..i will say though I have seen violent attitudes towards it..and even though i am not afraid,as i in guy mode can do fairly well to protect myself..it makes it a bit disparraging to want to go out dressed.