I think of myself in terms of being transgender and non-binary. What I eventually figured out is that I have no interest in physically transitioning. I have never felt that I was in the wrong body, as the idea is stated. Therefore, I don’t have dysphoria about it.
However, I realized that I have always been an amalgam of male and female thoughts, perspectives, likes/dislikes, interests, feelings, etc. I am equally up for conversations about the last Formula 1 race as I am for how to accessorize a particular outfit. Typically I present as female, but there are some situations where I choose not to do that. I always present as Don when I take my car to be serviced. I also did not dress recently when we went for our vaccine appointments. I didn’t want people to be distracted by trying to reconcile my presentation with my documentation. I prefer to present as female, but it isn’t a problem for me when I choose not to do that.
Late in life?!?!
I came out publicly on 10/10/2015 at the age of 67. I was Mistress of Ceremonies for an annual entertainment event, free to attend, put on by our LGBT employee affinity group. Ian Harvie was our entertainer and there were about 130 people in attendance. ~10 were co-workers. However, it wasn’t a big deal for me as I had already planned to retire ~4 months later.
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