That's great news! I love hearing positives like this and knowing that there are supportive and kind people out there. I'm glad you are seeing such good results!

Hey Everyone!   I'm just looking for a little reassurance (as the title says). I'm pretty sure I'd like to start transitioning. I've been wanting to for years but fear has kept me back. I'm worried about losing some people, about violence, mistreatment, rejection, my kids. What if it's just not right for me? I've lived into my 40s without transitioning and I've had a million excuses or reasons I've given myself but it all boils down to fear. It's not an easy step to take for a lot of people, I know that. I don't think I'd "pass" really and that's kind of my biggest concern overall. I feel like that fact will lead to manifesting the other fears. I have an appointment with my therapist (who is great!) coming up and I've been freaking out about bringing this up with her. I haven't addressed my gender identity with her at all yet so bringing that out of left field and then asking about transition might be a lot to do at once but I keep creeping along the finite thread of my life pushing it down but wishing I wouldn't. I don't want to get to the end without properly addressing this and finding out what is really right for me. But the second my toes reach that line I retreat. I just haven't been able to bring myself to cross it yet. I think part of that fear comes from knowing that once I do cross that line, things are going to change. That my therapist is probably going to say "Melody, if this is how you feel about everything, transitioning is probably the right choice for you." Then I'll have no more excuses. I'll have to leave the devil I know for a world I can only imagine. I just wish my brain was better at imagining the good things over the scary ones. 

Thank you so much, Betty!  I love activism and related work, I'm extremely passionate about it! I'm glad to hear there are other people here who share that realm of interest. Yes, there is a long list of controversies surrounding DID and diagnosis, so much so that it's hard to even get into without going on for hours. I'm currently seeing a psychologist/therapist and on the road to getting diagnosed, but the actual process of getting diagnosed here takes months-to-years, because your treatment professional needs to know you well to diagnose a covert disorder like that. It's actually been a long, hard road for me to get to this point due to the crippling healthcare crisis here in NL (and Canada in general), but that's a more personal story for a different day that would take me a few paragraphs to even get the basics of.   Oh, and:   ... But I'm also super into Will Wood (and the Tapeworms), Sublime, and Tool. My alters are into different music than me, though, so that'd be a list in it of itself. 

Thank you so much, Heather! It's good to meet you, too! Thank you for saying these things; I try to keep an open mind and learn as much as I can while being myself, so it feels really nice and affirming to be appreciated that way.   The past day on this forum has already been immensely enjoyable for me. This community is so welcoming, kind, and respectful! I'd love to write more about my experience being Two-Spirit, and what Mi'kmaq believe about Two-Spirit people - I'll likely do it in the Two-Spirit topic board very soon.    I'm so happy to have met you, and all the others I have met so far. I feel welcome here.

I do get why people take piercings out; I was tired of the belly piercing anyway, to be honest. My current piercings are actually septum, bridge, both eyebrows, and both ears. I'm aiming for my nostrils/sides of my nose next! I actually used to have the left(?) side of my nose/nostril pierced when I was a teen, too, but I had to take it out for a Navy Cadets ceremony, and it grew over in the span of a few hours... I don't remember if I was upset or not.  On that other note, I bet university was awesome, it certainly sounds like it! I bet you have some good memories there! I'd imagine Normandy accented French would be difficult to use in Canada, though, since most of our French dialects here are either Acadian-based or Québécois-based. There are a few exceptions, of course!

Hi Randi and welcome. Just commenting to remind me to drop back another time when it’s not so late. I’m an activist too, and a musician. I am also a youth worker and disability support worker and have encountered folks with DID (though I know there is sometimes controversy over diagnoses). I’m curious who your favourite band is. Some of mine are Slint, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, the War on Drugs. 

That’s a cool thing that I’ve noted when watching women use their hands. There’s such a different way they touch things than men do. I’m growing my nails out and I’m fascinated by how it is changing how may hands move and touch.  I am absolutely amazed watching Dolly Parton play her guitar with very long nails.💅  I hope it all works out well for you and your keyboarding.

Seeing women with long nail type, I've noted they don't use the tips of their fingers (as I do) but rather they keep their hand flat and touch the keyboard as if leaving a fingerprint.    

I have a cousin who is a member who said I would be welcome.  If the GOP’s proposed legislation passes maybe I should join the Son’s of Cincinnati for male ancestors of officers in the revolution. 😃

Welcome!    This rings true for me as well ! Im 32 and new ish to gender exploration. I like to cross dress, I often paint my nails and have begun growing my hair. Ive been experimenting with various clothes and breast forms and have found that althkugh clothes arent Inherintly sexual, the ones I seem to go for certainly have a commonality to them to say the least so im not sure if its a sexual thing or a gender thing.    This is a really good internal realisation. I found that when it was all new, it felt taboo and more inherently sexual but as ive done it more and more that feeling has gone away ?   Just know that you don't need to excuse who you are or what you like. Im a very large, heavy, tall man and I like what i like even if that is cutsey skirts. You are you and you are perfectly okay ! Feel free to reach out if you fancy a chat as we are similar ages and situations haha

Trans Group Zoom Meeting, Saturday (Sun. in Aus) !!   Trans Groups Zoom Meeting Times:   July 18, 2026 6:00 PM Pacific Time July 18, 2026 8:00 PM Central Time July 18, 2026 9:00 PM Eastern Time July 19, 2026 11:00 AM Australia/Melbourne   Join Zoom Meeting   https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89457298797?pwd=yPbjauQa3iraD0ftF1blGHbtundvO9.1   Meeting ID: 894 5729 8797 Passcode: 036477

New find - kind of an Iron Butterfly with fiddle and a touch of Doors.    

The wide range of emotions enclose.

What genre of music speaks to you?

Welcome Randi - it's good to meet  you. I am happy you seem happy and confident in who you are and that is good. You sound like a knowledgeable person and I like that you to are an advocate and love learning and appear open to new things. I do hope you enjoy being here and learn as well as teack as Two Spirits is an amazing gift. I see you've met several of the interesting and wonderful people here and I look forward to more posts and discussions with you.