LGBTQIAP+ Milestones: Book 4

Acceptance

By Sonny

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So it took me a while to figure out I was transgender. I've had a lot of struggling with my identity over the years - in the seventh grade I thought I was a lesbian, then in eighth I thought I was bisexual, then by high school I figured maybe I was asexual. Then it got more complicated than who I loved: it became an issue of who I was. First I was convinced I was bigender or genderfluid. Then I started having doubts that I was any different gender or sexuality at all. However, over time and with the help of a few LGBTQ+ friends, I figured out I was transgender.It was a weird process. I went by Cinna for a while (short for my original username on Tumblr) as a placeholder. While I got used to that name, I eventually realized it didn't fit me and wasn't even really a name. I made a list of a bunch of names I liked and eventually chose Sonny over the summer due to it feeling like it fit me the most and also some personal experience/love with anything sunshine-related. But now I had an even bigger problem than accepting myself: telling others about myself and trying to figure out if they'll accept me.I already had a friend who knew about me, and I really only told her because she asked and I didn't want to lie to her face (thankfully she had already proven she was very accepting so it wasn't so bad). However, I didn't want to keep lying to other people about my identity and decided to be more open to my school. Not so casually, I asked a few friends about their opinions on LGBTQ+ people. They answered in a supportive way, and they were the first few people I told about myself. Now, I have told several friends about me and have gained support from all of them. I even got a little trans flag keychain from one! I'm happy to have all these accepting friends, but I'm still worried about coming out to my family. Maybe that will be next milestone...