Be not afraid

I have come out to a lot of people over the years and have yet to face even an ounce of rejection. Thus I am living proof that good and decent people will not let you down.

The temptation is to believe what you see online which is more weighted towards the dregs of society. After all, anyone who goes out of their way to post negative things about trans people clearly has some issues. This is why I strongly urge that you base yourself on the real world and not the virtual. Nice people will be good to other nice people regardless of identity because they are secure and have nothing to fear. No one has been better here than my own children.

Unfortunately, fear of the other is what drives much of the hatred in this world.

For the longest time I allowed my own fear of rejection to paralyze me and I suffered in silence through self inflicted misery which need not have happened. But when you are victim to pervasive programming there is perhaps some just cause for trepidation. However, even people I might have hesitated to tell have been amazing which shows how often we are our own worst enemies.

Since my transition has been purely a social one, the people I frequent are split into groups: some know I am trans but have never seen Joanna, others knew me before but now see only Joanna and others have only ever met Joanna and don't know I am trans.

The process of coming out continues but there is not much left.