Reupload from my other blog
(I like how the app gave me really long hair in this one)
The time has arrived for me to write down something I've been thinking of for a few months: my coming out plan. Let's start.
Why do I want to come out of the closet?
Since I accepted that I may be transgender, I've realised that I have unexplored feelings, that a relevant part of me is yet to be discovered. Just thinking of not being able to be who I am, or even understanding who I am, makes me feel anxious. Sometimes I feel miserable for this.
However, I'm in a privileged position where I can think that the people around me won't abandon me or hate me for it. After some research, I've discovered that I could even have access to HRT and some surgeries covered by public health care. I can't imagine how it is for people who don't even have this options, but I've read too many accounts to understand that is horrible.
So, as even when I'm not feeling neither euphoric nor dysphoric I want to explore my true gender identity and I see relatively little risk in doing so, I have decided to come out to my closest family.
Who do I want to come out to?
These are the people who I want to tell about my gender identity. This is not a list ordered by who I love the most but who I think will take it better.
Brother: he's my non-identical twin. His best friend from high school came out as gay some years ago and he is generally accepting of LGBTQ people. I can expect some level of disbelief for not having realised how I felt after all this years. He's essentially the first friend I ever had and I want to tell him the first.
Brother's girlfriend: if my brother knows it, she knows it, and I'm OK with this. For all the time I've known her, I know she will be cool with it, not making annoying questions or telling anyone.
Mom: I honestly don't know what her first reaction will be. I can expect crying, hugs, and not knowing what to say. I know that she will spend the following days doing some internet research and is smart enough to ignore right wing propaganda disguised of science. Nothing can make her stop loving me.
Dad: this is the one I whose reaction I fear the most. He once said he wouldn't know what to do if he had a gay child (but he didn't say anything about being trans). He's got progressive values and conservative attitudes; which sounds hypocritical but I think he just supports ideas he thinks are better than the ones he grew up with. He might be the one with the most questions and the one who's the most used to being casually bigoted, but I think that, once he accepts what I need to tell him, he will be the fiercest ally.
I'll tell them how I've been feeling about my gender identity and that I want to experiment with my gender expression. I'll use other terms, of course, as they may not be that familiar with the language queer people use to define themselves.
I also know that trans people don't owe an explanation to anyone but I do want my family to understand me. As I've said, I don't expect outright rejection, maybe some uneducated ignorance, so I think it's worth to open up to them about this side of me I've been denying and hiding.
Where do I want to come out to them?
Somewhere private. Either at home, where I live with my parents, or at the apartment my brother and his girlfriend share. I don't think it would be a good idea to come out over dinner in a restaurant or any other public place. The idea of coming out of the closet is already awkward enough to add an audience.
When do I want to come out?
In general, I want to avoid the proximity of family gatherings. I've got a bunch of them in July, so I'm thinking about August. I also think it would be a good idea to come out to my brother first and then to my parents. There's a few holidays and weekends around that time that may be an excuse to have people at home and, on the other side, a tightening of COVID-19 restrictions may make it hard to meet with my brother.
But I can't keep postponing this. By the seventh of August, I will have told my brother about having lunch at his place, without other friends or family members and I'll tell him at dessert. I would like for him to be with me when I tell my parents but, if we couldn't be able to meet in that month, I would tell my parents first. This is a promise I'm making to myself.
What will I do afterwards?
Once my parents know it, I'll go on an online shopping spree. I'll dress as a woman and ask them to refer to me as such. If I like it, I'll try going outside on girlmode, preferably to places where they won't recognise me, a bookstore, maybe, but not in my small hometown. I'm not planning to come out to everyone yet.
I also want to meet other trans people. So far, I've mostly expressed my queerness in English on the internet, but I want to know how it is for other Catalan trans folks. I want to know if they ever feel like I do and how were their transitions, if they transitioned.
Finally, I will consider transitioning myself. Right know I'm interested in hormonal treatment and the only surgery I consider is breast implants, but I think I should let the hormones act first and see if I like my body. And I may consult a psychologist. I know I don't need to be diagnosed with anything to be transgender, but I think I'll need some help getting to know myself. After all, it took me twenty eight years to understand that I wasn't cisgender.
(also, enjoy this picrew I made thanks to a certain komoworm; i don't remember where I found the link to this person maker but here you go https://picrew.me/image_maker/710866 )