Reply To: Being older as a transgender/cross dresser?

[Jennifer R]

It looks like we baby boomers still have a long way to go, but moving in a positive direction.   Life was more rural in our younger days, lots more traditional and restrictive as we grew up, like for those of us who grew up in small back woods mountain mining towns.   We had to learn to hide our true selves, it was dangerous not to.  For most of us, that lifetime of social programming is impossible to overcome.  Only that inner craving, when the situation allows it to grow and it becomes strong enough, will drive us out of hiding.  Times have sure changed in the last decade, I think we can thank the internet for that.  We wouldn’t be here without it.  It’s not the number or percentage of us that I really care about, I’ve never been accused of being “normal” anyway.  All I want is that we don’t have to hide, to be ashamed, to just be able to live our lives just like anyone else.  That shouldn’t be too much to ask.  Unfortunately, now we have a small minority of us who are acting too far outside what is considered socially acceptable, and it’s impacting perceptions of all of us.