Lots of interesting POV's being expressed here, but the one thing that is becoming abundantly clear in this thread is that we, as crossdressers, are so wrapped up in ourselves that because of this, we often have our collective heads so far up our butts that we really do need to come up for air once in awhile.

While CDing might be a HUGE thing for some of us because of the paranoia that we have inflicted upon ourselves due to society's assumed disdain for both ourselves and our lifestyle, this is far from being a universal truth. The more I go out in public en femme, the more acceptance I find - especially among all manner of GG's. SA's in stores in particular treat me with dignity and respect, and practically fall all over themselves to help me. Rather than being looked upon as a persona non grata, they seem to find me both intriguing and fascinating. Those that do "read' me are often full of sincere and well-intentioned questions about my lifestyle, as well as admiration for my willingness and courage to express the real "me".

Here's another example: Some years ago, I joined the on-line forum of a Canadian women's magazine, initially to participate in discussions on beauty and fashion. I was very open about the fact that I was a crossdresser and my reason for being there. While some of the other members were a bit stand-offish initially, most accepted me just like one of the girls once I started to post on a regular basis and they got to know me as well as what I was able to contribute. Eventually, a sub-group of those GG's began to take a real shine to me and actively sought out my input on various topics. For reasons I won't go into here, some of the regular posters who were part of certain cliques (as in "mean girls" - sound familiar?) seemed to get jealous over the on-line friendships that I had started to develop there and began to give us a bit of a hard time - and me in particular. One of the more tech-savvy ladies among my "admirers" then suggested that she set up a dedicated Facebook page just for us to meet on to exchange news, view, tips, ideas etc. without all that other background noise. In fact, one of her prime motivators for this was the fact that she didn't want to see me leave the other forum and thereby miss out on some of the more spirited dialogs that we as a group had begun to engage in. So here I am now, happily chatting away on this shared Facebook site on a regular basis with my on-line GG gal-pals and being treated just like one of the girls - even to the point of routinely being referred to as "she".

So, the moral of my story is that if you act the part and exhibit enough self-confidence, people will eventually treat you the way you present yourself without thinking twice about it. In a sense, they become "color-blind" in the same way that most people of different races interact with each other these days by focusing on what they have in common as opposed to what separates them.

Granted, when this comes to SO's or friends or loved ones etc. who have a hard time wrapping their minds around our newly-discovered female sides when they have formerly only known us as "manly" men, this can sometimes present an insurmountable challenge. But as for the average GG - unless they are of the dyed-in-the-wool, "old school" persuasion - most are quite willing to accept us for what we are without undue judgement - at least in my experience so far...