Hehe. I’d figured out that not every guy wanted to be a girl pretty early – that’s probably one of the reasons I was repressing so hard. But when I found out that actual trans people didn’t always know, and you could just… be trans if you wanted, that broke my brain :3

I think it’s OK to be selfish, so long as that means prioritizing self-interest over that of others, rather than being greedy at others’ expense. And transitioning does not cost anybody else anything: you don’t owe it to anyone to be anything other than yourself.

After all, nobody is going to look out for your well-being as diligently as you yourself.

BTW, the comic in the fist panel is this one.

Sweeet! That hair rocks.

Niiice <3

Oh yeah and I’m getting my hair dyed this week!

Ooh, what color?

… TWO months HRT (ah, ah, ah) …

So I got my GID diagnosis at last! I’m now certified Trans, for what it’s worth. Switching from DIY to prescription injections next week, yay ~

Plus a surprising (welcome) result in the Japanese election. Hope for marriage equality in the near future?

Well, hopefully nobody, but it implies revolution: which again requires quite a bit of social organization but is something that does still happen around the world.

Now, whenever this topic comes up the standard objection is that a group of private citizens couldn’t beat, say, the US military, but that’s not the point: you need to overthrow the government. If the military supports you (unlikely) or refuses to get involved (possible), this is a much more realistic proposition.

Sure! As the saying goes: soap box, ballot box, ammo box – in that order. But it’s hard work. The crazies are motivated, so we must be too.

Talk to people. Show them that trans people are not demons (most of the time). Make friends. Let them know that these laws hurt you and people like you. Get involved in the community. Contact your elected representative in government. Often. Get other people to do so too. Join or support an activist organization. Get involved in politics. Run for office. Vote! And make sure others do too.

Failing that, emigrate :3

Ah, that sounds like a weird translation then. Looking at the manga (I think the line in the anime was similar), Makoto says:

僕は僕のままで生きたい
男の子だけど女の子みたいなものが好きで

That is, “I want to live as me. I’m a boy but I like girly things.”

OTOH, as you say the reaction to being perceived as a girl (and trying to pass as one at school) is pretty telling. But egg prime directive, and all that.

Yeah, not talking too much is often a good plan if you want to keep things simple :)

Plus, stuff like nail art of course isn’t exclusively feminine. If I go out with (very) light makeup, in women’s jeans and painted nails, internally I’ll be overflowing with girl stuff euphoria, but to everyone else I’m just some dude. Since my body shape, face and hair aren’t remotely feminine (yet!), there’s not really much to code “woman”. I think I’d have to wear a dress and full-on eyeliner for anyone to notice.

Good advice.

Painting my nails was the first remotely fem-presenting thing I did (other than shaving!). Very few people even noticed. One of the people I work with, after I came out, said I just looked a bit more stylish than usual. The biggest response I got was paying at my local where the owner knows me well – “oh, you’ve painted your nails” / “yup”. And that was it.

Having said that, I don’t have nearly enough courage to go to a salon or anything yet! Let us know how it goes!

Sorry, maybe it was a bit too obscure! It’s a meme about feminizing voice training.

First panel is Frieren; she has a fairly deep voice (for anime at least) but obviously feminine. Should be achievable, and I’d be really happy if I could sound anywhere close to that (although maybe a bit less breathy).

Second panel is Makoto from Sempai is an Otokonoko - the scene where he’s(*) standing in front of a blackboard after being outed. His voice is quite soft and high, but sounds like a boy (in-universe he can pass) – which is kind of where I’m at most of the time.

I’m talking about the Japanese voice acting, btw. I assume the dubs use similar voices.

(*) There’s apparently some debate over this, but since Makoto rejects wanting to be a girl and explicitly says “I’m a guy”, I’m going to assume femboy rather than trans girl.

Oh, and prosody, vocab, going slower, and being more empathetic. Talking like a girl is hard.

Neither in nor from the US, and I’m worried…

Definitely vote, if you’re able to!

Just one of those “keep putting one foot in front of the other” weeks…

Yeup.

… ok! 😊

A thought I often come back to is that we all (trans or otherwise) have far more in common with our friends and acquaintances now than our past selves of 10, 20 or more years ago. I’m a very different person now than that bitterly unhappy kid facing down year after year of hell at school. But yeah, I didn’t suddenly become somebody else when my egg cracked.

On the other hand, throwing away everything I thought I knew about myself was absolutely necessary. Maybe I am trans… maybe I do want to wear women’s clothes and makeup… maybe I can wear a dress in public (OK, still working on that one). It kind of feels like (I imagine) winning the lottery: I beat the odds, somehow; I still don’t quite believe it; and my life is about to change massively.

https://www.reallifecomics.com/comic-mobile.php?comic=june-29-2020 (and subsequent pages)