Well, its a bit rough to be LGBTQ+ and be known for voting anything but Democrat.  Its like there's just an assumption from both the right wingers and the LGBTQ+ community that you have to be a Democrat voter.  LGBTQ+ spaces become a Democrat echo chamber, and in conservative spaces you get attacked for being a Democrat even when you aren't one.     One thing I'm seeing in my area is that youger folks are not interested in the Democrat party.  If they're right wing, they're unafraid.  If they're left wing, they're more interested in other options.  My trans girlfriend is on the young end of Gen Z, and 100% a Trump fan.  Most of her cohort seem to drink from the same Kool Aid pitcher.  I'm a millennial and rather jaded about most of it.  I consider myself to be a classical liberal, I often vote Libertarian, and I'm a registered independent.   I really hope for more political diversity, especially among LGBTQ+ folks.  The more we get away from a corrupt 2-party system, the better.

As a former pilot, I totally agree!    Though I do appreciate those who do whatever it takes to fight wildfires.  The province leased a fleet of water-bombers this year, to avoid having to borrow them from neighbouring provinces again.  While they came quickly last year, that might not always be the case if those provinces have their own fires to deal with.

Oh, so sad that so many cherries are just left for the birds!  If we were anywhere close, my army of minions could clean up for you 😉   We've had cherries here too, and peaches and nectarines are coming on.  Apples and pears in September, and berries all through the season.  I've made some really good blackberry jam this year!   El Niño seems to be giving a lot of rain, which is a relief after 3 years of drought.  We had our own fire worries at times, in some rugged rural areas.  There has been talk of having the Defense Force start training some of the firefighters to use parachutes, like smokejumpers out west.  Thankfully so far, what equipment can't reach has been reachable on horseback.  Every time my husband and new girlfriend go out for a practice jump, I cringe.  Can't imagine jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, especially jumping out into a fire.  🙄

Oh Melody come here let me give you a hug   i am in exactly the same position myself except that my therapist jumped straight in with my gender issues and we've discussed it a lot   i too really want to start transitioning but i fear the rejection of others. i don't have children myself but my family is very tightly knit and the fear of being the elephant in the room at gatherings is really hard to get past so too is the fear of discrimination from my co workers who are very regressive when it comes to transgender topics   when i close my eyes and think about myself in five ... ten ... twenty years time i can only see a woman, a happy woman full of smiles and living her best life and the man everyone else sees is well never there   i am not going to lie the transition process itself is a huge under taking and one that you and i would have to commit to for the rest of our lives and its a struggle to not feel daunted or overwhelmed by the whole thing but i would like to think that living a life as your true self would be better than the idea that you would give up and never know true happiness   i am not sure if it helps at all but your not alone in this talk to your therapist and get your feelings out there maybe together you can work out the best course of action for you

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.