When I came out I was eight years old. My family wasn’t thrilled about it and took a while to use the right pronouns. They started by just calling me by my name, then using they/them pronouns, until finally they used he/him. It took years for them to comfortably use the right pronouns, and the past three or four years it’s been completely seamless. It took a while, but once they realized that it wasn’t a phase and that it was what I wanted, they became incredibly accepting. It will be hard at first, but after a while it gets sooo much easier. (M/17/FtM)
Story #2703
When I came out, it was over a text message. I made a massive letter and sent it on the bus with my (very) supportive friends. After school, I saw the reply and my mum said “ok cool”. Honestly couldn’t have wanted a better response haha. My mum even found me trans ftm friends. I now am living my best life as a guy. (M/13/FtM)
Story #2656
When I came out, I was 10 the first time. My mum didn’t believe me and I still have not come out to my dad (as he makes fun of gay/trans people). Second time I was 11 and started binding at my volleyball games because of the tight uniforms (do not recommend). My mum was mad and the whole way I got it was I gave her $50 for a $20 binder. She still doesn’t believe me and my sisters are very suspicious. (FtM/Gay)
Story #2653
When I came out as trans and bi, I was 10. My dad told me that “it’s a phase.” My mom was fairly supportive. My dad is a bit antsy about the subject and my mom supports me as best as she can; she even referred to me with my preferred pronouns, which felt amazing. I just got my binder and now I feel incredible. (Transgender FtM/14/Bisexual)
Story #2651
When I came out, my parents had always been a little passive aggressive about trans or lgbtq people in general. I came out a total of 3 times, and hundreds of signals I was trans since the age of 8. They are (probably pretending) still clueless. I pass well and I have been stealth in my school for the past 2 years. (FtM/15)
Story #2643
When I came out I was 15 and having a breakdown in a cafeteria with my mother, but I wish I’d done it much earlier. I said I wanted to be a boy a lot of times when I was younger, but I got really closed-off in general at some point and wanted to avoid the topic of my gender with my family for years because I thought they would make it awkward and not understand. Nobody was surprised when I did get around to telling them, though, and now I’ve got a name and am living like me. (FtM/16)
Story #2636
When I came out, I was 14. I felt very uncomfortable in my own skin and I would sort of shame myself, and an example, I would pull my hair and cut it. And when I came into my parent’s bedroom, they looked at me and just sighed, I don’t know in relief or in shame, but they looked at me and nodded slightly. I took it as acceptance and now I’m living as my true self. (Transgender man [FtM]/19/Demiromantic)
Story #2615
When I came out, it was… awkward. My parents had looked through my phone and saw that I was dating a girl (I’m AFAB) and my mom was very unsupportive and treated me like a little wh0r3. (I was twelve.) My father was somewhat better about it, and I am now FTM and use he/him. I am also abrosexual, lithrosexual, and demiro. (FtM/13/Abrosexual)
Story #2612
When I came out my goal was to make it so obvious that no one would question it, and I wouldn’t have to tell them. Getting a haircut and dressing in basketball shorts was easy, as I was always butch but always hated myself. Now I pass so well that a stranger would assume I am just another cis boi from school. but I am still not out yet and it breaks my heart every time I have to introduce myself in my old name. I’m afraid tho… my parents know and they are supportive but the rest of my family, my friends, my school and my community idk. I’m terrified. And even if my parents know, legal names and documents don’t change overnight. I can’t keep living a split life with a name that ties me to something I have never been and never will be. (FtM/16/Trans man)
Story #2590
When I came out the first time, I told my mom I was bi, because she’d asked if was gay, and I wasn’t ready to tell her, so I panicked. When I got to college, I finally told her I was a lesbian, but she questioned it because she didn’t think I’d ever been with anyone sexually, so how could I possibly know? I’d always been pretty masculine, but it was the mid-90s, and I’d come from a long line of tomboys who’d turned out straight, so she didn’t think I was any different. There was little info about trans-people readily available at the time — even Google was brand new! — and I was almost out of college before I ever met a trans-person, or understood that there were people who felt like me, who’d spent their entire lives trying to figure out why nothing ever felt right. I married a woman when I was 23, but it would be a few more years before I’d hit a wall and realize I needed to transition for my sanity’s sake. My wife and I have been together for over 20 years, my family has been 1000% supportive, and transitioning saved my life. (FtM/44/Pan)