Quote Originally Posted by Tracii G View Post
There are things about ourselves we choose to keep hidden from people that do not understand and accept.
What is the point in forcing your lifestyle or dressing preference on everyone?
I am out to close friends and wish to keep it that way.I don't feel the need to force my lifestyle on others.
Hi, Tracii! Sorry, but this is a point of view that I take exception to. You'll see it from time to time on this forum and elsewhere in the trans community, and it's a point of view I really wish we'd abandon--that is, this notion that if we live in such a way as to be happy, we're "forcing our lifestyle on others."

I myself have been out in my town for about six weeks now, living full-time as myself. I do my shopping, my other errands, etc., as myself in full view of the whole town, and everybody's been perfectly accepting. But how can we say I'm forcing my lifestyle on others? I would be forcing it on others if I were trying to make them live the same way I do. I'm trans, therefore they have to be trans, too. That's not what I'm doing. I'm doing my thing, and I leave it up to others to live the way they want to.

Note in Reine's post how she said her SO is reluctant to even go to the nearby grocery store for fear of the consequences. This is a serious infringement of one's rights. How many cispeople have to be afraid of doing something so simple and basic as going the grocery store?

Many people on this forum do have real reason to fear the consequences for themselves and their families if they were to come out. When we say that we're forcing our lifestyle on others, we're getting it backwards: they're the ones forcing their lifestyle on us.

And you will see cis trans-haters pretty much admitting it. They don't want to see transpeople, they don't even want to hear about us in the news, etc. What they want is for all of us to be tucked away permanently in the closet so that they don't have to know anything about us. And when they do hear about us, they complain about us "shoving our values down their throats".

We transpeople need to move away from this view that by being ourselves we're imposing on others. We all agree that people should have the right to live as they please, so long as they're not hurting others. By living as myself, I'm not hurting anybody else. And I believe I should have the same civil and human rights as anybody else. I'm not imposing on anybody, and I don't want them imposing on me, either.

Best wishes, Annabelle