Trans 101 PDF
When I first came out as trans, most people who knew me knew almost nothing about being trans. That knowledge vacuum created all sorts of issues. Startled, people jumped to ill-informed conclusions. They didn’t know what to think.
I tried to explain it as best I could, but it’s a lot of ground to cover conversationally.
My attempts to explain this in person also forced me to witness the emotional reactions of people who began understanding my process from our culture’s confused trans-phobic starting point–and that was painful for everyone involved.
Friends and family who researched on their own were inundated with too much information, and a lot of what they found on the web was confusing.
Fed up, I created a document that I used to come out to most of the people in my life. People really liked the document, and several have urged me to carve off the “trans 101″ portion and make it available on its own.
It is concise, and subjective. Although I wrote it to be widely applicable, I have no expectations that it speaks adequately for all trans people. I’m providing it as is. Please: use it if it appeals to you, and not if it doesn’t.