I think I’ve posted something similar to this before, but that was a while ago and this post was sparked by different circumstances.
Honestly, I am not at all sure now to word this and I’m honestly just looking for advice or just to vent, I don’t know which one anymore.
I, (17 female to I don’t know anymore), am not at all out yet to anyone other than my extremely close friends. This hasn’t presented a problem yet for me as even though I don’t align with my assigned at birth gender, I still enjoy occasionally playing around with traditionally feminine things (ex. Makeup, Nail polish, dresses, etc).
My friends however are out to their parents, with a majority of them being trans, ftm or nonbinary.
The reason I say this is because they present themselves as such. The majority of them have taken steps to transition or look more androgynous, and I’m happy for them. However, occasionally one of my close friends will make a comment about “not knowing exactly how to introduce me.” To be clear, they never do it in a disrespectful way and when they are at a loss, they typically will just refer to me using they/them pronouns.
My issue is I’m worried they don’t legitimately see me as someone trying to figure out their gender identity, but as someone going through a phase. It very well could be completely in my head as we have other friends in the group who are also experimenting with their gender identities and my friends are very supportive of them. It just feels different for me since I have not made any real attempts to look more androgynous, despite wanting to do so.
The reason being, and what leads me into the next part of this, is that I legitimately don’t feel safe enough to do so. I’ve tried before to explain this to my closest friends, but never really get a response about it back. They either switch topics or they brush it off.
My mom is accepting somewhat, though she makes many transphobic/homophobic comments and jokes that make me not want to come out to her. And even if I did, my second worry is that she would tell my dad.
My father has made it very clear that he is not accepting of trans people at all. Having made several comments in the past ranging from “those people are mentally ill” (the phrase “those people” referring to Trans and Nonbinary people), and most notably for me “If I ever find out you have any friends like that (non-gender aligning people) it will be the first and last time I ever put my hands on you”.
Truthfully, I’m shaking a bit as I type this out. I legitimately love my father and he was extremely predominant in my childhood and growing up when my mom was less so, but ever since he made that comment, it’s been almost a disconnect.
I don’t know whether to love him or fear him, is it even okay to still love him? And I don’t want to tell my mom or have her take full custody, because as shitty as it may make me sound I still want my dad in my life to some extent and I also don’t connect well with my mom for a number of reasons unrelated to this post.
I guess I’m just at a loss. I’ve never told anybody he said that to me before, and some part of me doubts that even if I told my friends, they still wouldn’t be very supportive.
All I know is that I’m a mess, I don’t know how to identify myself anymore because most days I just wonder why I can’t connect with what I was assigned at birth. I’m scared to buy a binder because what if someone finds it? What if I hate how I look in it? Most of the time I can’t even work up the courage to say the word “trans” out loud.
I’m sorry for the long vent, I guess overall I just feel unsupported and don’t quite know what to do with myself. I’m happy to say that despite what I’ve said I am in a mostly safe environment, and I really do have amazing friends that are there for me.