Reply To: New member, newly out

[Dana Munson]

Hello Erica and welcome!  I am another of those late-in-life transitioners. I was fortunate (very!) in gaining the acceptance – if not enthusiasm – by all of my friends and family (so far). I never had to fight the battle you are apparently up against with your daughter. I wish you the very best in working through that impasse. If your daughter’s hung up on the “a man shall not wear a woman’s raiment (clothing)” prohibition in the Bible, you could (gently) remind her that the prohibition also runs against women dressing as men (and what about those JEANS and other PANTS she wears, hmmm?).  One could point her to research by biblical scholars that indicates the clothing prohibition was not originally intended to be against cross-dressing, per se, but evidently resulted from some of those eternally back-sliding Israelites joining in Baal-worshipping fertility rituals in which men and women temporarily exchanged clothing. The original point was “NO BAAL WORSHIP!!”, not “No dressing as a woman, period!”  But . . . any such approach may be a tough sell with your daughter.  Religious feeling is an emotional thing and is not always amenable to what others would deem “reasonable” argument.

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Jessica Maddison