Social LGBTQIA+

EV

Banned deucer.
Well this is now a nightmare for me, I was worried that would be the result. I do live in a red state and as I currently transition that just makes it that much more terrifying trying to find work. Luckily I’ve been able to find jobs that are okay with me being openly trans, but still is a concerning result
To be clear, the case hasn't been decided YET. I'm just prognosticating. Maybe we'll get lucky, but with this current bench, it's really hard to believe it.
 

atomicllamas

but then what's left of me?
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
(Americans)
I'm so glad I don't live in a red state. After the supreme court makes it legal to fire LGBTQ+ people again, it's going to be a rough couple of years for any poor fool living in, say, Alabama who's guilty of being gay at work.
It’s already legal to fire people for being gay, at worst this would set a precedent that equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and the due process clause do not apply to sexual orientation and/or gender identity. If ruled that the firing is illegal due to the equal protection clause it would finally give federal protections to LGBT+ as a protected class on the same level as race and gender. In theory Lawrence v Texas, United States v Windsor, and Obergefell v Hodges all set a precedent that the equal protection clause does apply to sexual orientation. But all of those were set with a 5-4 or 6-3 majority, and the replacement of Kennedy with Kavanaugh does no favors. It basically depends on how Chief Justice Roberts rules, he may rule with the liberal wing of the court cause he doesn’t want the court to be perceived as overly partisan but idk if I’d bank on that.

I do think it’s kind of messed up that apparently people itt didn’t already realize that it was legal to fire people for their sexual orientation on the federal level already. That’s why so many blue states / cities have specifically spelled out anti-discrimination clauses. In fact there were no protections for federal workers for sexual orientation or gender identity prior to Obama. Which Trump overturned so...
 

EV

Banned deucer.
Yeah I live in a thicc blue bubble here in Washington so forgive my ignorance. I didn't realize we still didn't have protection at the federal level, mb.
 
Last edited:

atomicllamas

but then what's left of me?
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Supreme Court cases like these are exactly why it’s important to vote blue for president even if it is some milquetoast centerist btw. If we keep letting republicans stack the court with federalist society POS judges, civil liberties for gsm, religious minorities, women, and poc will start to erode rather than continue to move towards being on par with straight, white, Christian men. And also they continually rule against labor unions and getting money out of politics :smogthink:.
 
That’s fair that you were saying worst case, cause I agree that it’ll probably happen. Just kind of recognizes my fears at this point
 
It’s already legal to fire people for being gay, at worst this would set a precedent that equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and the due process clause do not apply to sexual orientation and/or gender identity. If ruled that the firing is illegal due to the equal protection clause it would finally give federal protections to LGBT+ as a protected class on the same level as race and gender. In theory Lawrence v Texas, United States v Windsor, and Obergefell v Hodges all set a precedent that the equal protection clause does apply to sexual orientation. But all of those were set with a 5-4 or 6-3 majority, and the replacement of Kennedy with Kavanaugh does no favors. It basically depends on how Chief Justice Roberts rules, he may rule with the liberal wing of the court cause he doesn’t want the court to be perceived as overly partisan but idk if I’d bank on that.

I do think it’s kind of messed up that apparently people itt didn’t already realize that it was legal to fire people for their sexual orientation on the federal level already. That’s why so many blue states / cities have specifically spelled out anti-discrimination clauses. In fact there were no protections for federal workers for sexual orientation or gender identity prior to Obama. Which Trump overturned so...
This is so horrible, why would you fire someone just cause s/he is gay?
WTF Im done.

Anyways hope those people who got fire get a better future.
 
As someone who lives in Washington but a red city im a bit concerned about possible displacement in work because of that being a possibility but i hope itll be fine here
I totally understand, and hoping for the best for ya! According to how proceedings went the announcement shouldn't be made until summer in the middle of the election. So hopefully polls can keep trending towards the left and help out the cause of LGBT citizens
 

Asheviere

Banned deucer.
right so, update post time now that I'm out across the whole community (namechanged on PS too, not able to do so here yet tho :blobsad: ).

yeah, I'm a (trans) girl. I don't really have much to add to this, I'm not exactly a very wordy person. But I do want to thank Asheviere, everyone in the PokePride discord, and all the other people who have supported me over the past couple days of slowly coming out online. This is very quickly becoming the happiest time of my life and as I said in my previous post here, I don't know where I would be without this community. Love you all so much.

Maybe I'll write up something bigger later on when I'm not still adjusting to everything. probably not tho
It is honestly moving to see how liberated you are since the egg has cracked, and I am very glad I could have had an impact on that. I wish you the best of luck going forward and you (and any other trans girl in the community) can always come to me if you want to share or ask anything. Know that you're extremely brave for doing this and we all have massive respect for you.

Of course this doesn't just count for Robyn but all the other girls (and guys) who have made posts in this thread. Everyone deserves to be proud to have taken a step on this long and difficult journey. It is an admirable thing and I hope it is all worth it in the end.
 

inactive

In a Movie Scene~
is a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
right so, update post time now that I'm out across the whole community (namechanged on PS too, not able to do so here yet tho :blobsad: ).

yeah, I'm a (trans) girl. I don't really have much to add to this, I'm not exactly a very wordy person. But I do want to thank Asheviere, everyone in the PokePride discord, and all the other people who have supported me over the past couple days of slowly coming out online. This is very quickly becoming the happiest time of my life and as I said in my previous post here, I don't know where I would be without this community. Love you all so much.

Maybe I'll write up something bigger later on when I'm not still adjusting to everything. probably not tho
Where the FUCK is my shoutout JEDBIRB

Seriously tho, i'm proud of you! Definitely admire the amount of courage you had to make this post
 
right so, update post time now that I'm out across the whole community (namechanged on PS too, not able to do so here yet tho :blobsad: ).

yeah, I'm a (trans) girl. I don't really have much to add to this, I'm not exactly a very wordy person. But I do want to thank Asheviere, everyone in the PokePride discord, and all the other people who have supported me over the past couple days of slowly coming out online. This is very quickly becoming the happiest time of my life and as I said in my previous post here, I don't know where I would be without this community. Love you all so much.

Maybe I'll write up something bigger later on when I'm not still adjusting to everything. probably not tho
Definitely agree with the sentiments expressed before me, but so glad you be open and be yourself! Hope you’re able to keep it up and continue expressing yourself as you want to be!
 

Exeggutor

twist
is a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
hello, this is me updating my detransition journey as though anyone is interested:

I am now registered by my birth name again! In most places. I still have to change things like the NHS system and my driver's licence back, but I'm registered by my birth name at university. This has been the most difficult thing for me to navigate, not because of bureaucracy, but because of my own indecision on what I prefer. Do I want to be my birth name, or my new name? I've decided on keeping my new name as my "preferred name", and it's the name everybody knows me as now. The decision as to whether or not I adopt this new name fully and legally is a really in-depth, personal and complicated one that I'm not really sure how to touch right now.

I am yet to hear about any new appointments or whatnot from the gender clinic. I'd like to attend another appointment if only to express why I'm detransitioning and get my journey noted on the system, as I know most detransitioned people stop showing up without explanation.

I'm navigating sexuality as a woman again! That's terrifying yet freeing. Being a masculine girl has its own separate set of hurdles that I've not had to experience before, as I was trans when I turned 18. It's exciting all the same! Girls are pretty openly into me. Guys are weirder, but I can't imagine many straight men being into masculine girls. I'm also joining all the LGBT-related societies at uni and I'm looking forward to meeting more people like me! And my family and friends have been very open in their support and love during my detransition, which is much appreciated.

Generally, I am a lot happier now! I stressed so much over things related to my gender identity that I never got to simply stand there and be, which I think is the biggest difference. I do not worry much about how people perceive me anymore. There was constant anxiety over passing - do they see me as a man, do they see me as a woman - that has been pushed into the recesses of my mind. It's liberating. My dysphoria is not nearly as bad as it used to be. I'm exercising! I'm considering going swimming again! There are so many things that I found limited me from enjoying things to the fullest, and I'm trying to push against those limits with as much power as I can right now.

I hope that everyone is doing well! And to anyone who may be in a similar position that I am: stay strong, and I am always here to lend an ear!
 

Scholar

Shinjiro's babe
is a Tiering Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
I guess I come out here. I knew I had an attraction for girls in middle school which was 7-8 years ago?, as I was in love with my female best friend at the time, but denied these feelings because of my parents strong spiritual beliefs. It wasn't till 12th grade, which was 3 years ago I started telling my close friends that I am Bisexual, and at the end of the year that I was also Genderfluid. My friends supported me which made me so happy as my parents will not accept this becuase of what the bible says even tho they do know I am Bisexual since I came home with my ex gfs alot, but I never told them about the second part.

I haven't really told my ps! friends that I prefer they/he because at the time I wasn't comfortable with telling everyone that I was Genderfluid and just went with my gender I was born with, which was female when I entered smogon, and my ps! Friends call me she still to this day, and it sorta bothers me when I am having a he day(been trying to work on correcting people lol).

Unlike 7-8 years ago, I am very open about my sexuality, and dunno why I was so scared to do it on Smogon/PS! guess I got afraid of bullying or something. This just part of who I am, and I am proud of it.
Update time. I am officially trans (FTM) after taking the time to figure out my true self with just sticking with genderfluid for about 4-5 years now. I always did think being a girl did not fit me correctly, but it took some time sorting out other matters in life to get me to this point today. I cannot really move on with my appearance (clothes, surgery etc) due to my parents beliefs and also how broken the relationship with my parents already is, I do not want to bring this up to them till I move out within the next two years. While it may be awhile before the physical part, I can officially be out online and finally feel in line with being the gender I feel myself as. I always thought when i was genderfluid that boy fit me better because I viewed myself as a guy who would be loyal to his girlfriend and already had a strong attraction to girls. I also hated being in girl clothes and looking at myself in the mirror since I basically viewed myself as a guy most days when I was genderfluid. I always made these stories / daydreams about being a guy and how cool it would be to born as a guy and take girls out, go out drinking with the guys, doing sports and other guy things. If anyone is wondering the name I picked out as my new first name is Zero. This is not because of the anime Code Geass either, as 5 years ago, I did not even know what it was. Zero just sounds cool and the name I always used in Pokemon and other jrpgs for a really long time now and has stuck with me. I hope that everyone will accept this change, and it does not cause me to lose any friendships I have found on this website. I like to thank everyone so far that I told that has accepted me when I just came out about this a few hours ago.

tldr;
I am trans (FTM), boy name(Within two years legal first name) Zero, please use he/him pronouns
 

Annika

is a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Community Leaderis a Programmer
PS Admin
Update time. I am officially trans (FTM) after taking the time to figure out my true self with just sticking with genderfluid for about 4-5 years now. I always did think being a girl did not fit me correctly, but it took some time sorting out other matters in life to get me to this point today. I cannot really move on with my appearance (clothes, surgery etc) due to my parents beliefs and also how broken the relationship with my parents already is, I do not want to bring this up to them till I move out within the next two years. While it may be awhile before the physical part, I can officially be out online and finally feel in line with being the gender I feel myself as. I always thought when i was genderfluid that boy fit me better because I viewed myself as a guy who would be loyal to his girlfriend and already had a strong attraction to girls. I also hated being in girl clothes and looking at myself in the mirror since I basically viewed myself as a guy most days when I was genderfluid. I always made these stories / daydreams about being a guy and how cool it would be to born as a guy and take girls out, go out drinking with the guys, doing sports and other guy things. If anyone is wondering the name I picked out as my new first name is Zero. This is not because of the anime Code Geass either, as 5 years ago, I did not even know what it was. Zero just sounds cool and the name I always used in Pokemon and other jrpgs for a really long time now and has stuck with me. I hope that everyone will accept this change, and it does not cause me to lose any friendships I have found on this website. I like to thank everyone so far that I told that has accepted me when I just came out about this a few hours ago.

tldr;
I am trans (FTM), boy name(Within two years legal first name) Zero, please use he/him pronouns
Congratulations! Zero is a cool name.
 
Update time. I am officially trans (FTM) after taking the time to figure out my true self with just sticking with genderfluid for about 4-5 years now. I always did think being a girl did not fit me correctly, but it took some time sorting out other matters in life to get me to this point today. I cannot really move on with my appearance (clothes, surgery etc) due to my parents beliefs and also how broken the relationship with my parents already is, I do not want to bring this up to them till I move out within the next two years. While it may be awhile before the physical part, I can officially be out online and finally feel in line with being the gender I feel myself as. I always thought when i was genderfluid that boy fit me better because I viewed myself as a guy who would be loyal to his girlfriend and already had a strong attraction to girls. I also hated being in girl clothes and looking at myself in the mirror since I basically viewed myself as a guy most days when I was genderfluid. I always made these stories / daydreams about being a guy and how cool it would be to born as a guy and take girls out, go out drinking with the guys, doing sports and other guy things. If anyone is wondering the name I picked out as my new first name is Zero. This is not because of the anime Code Geass either, as 5 years ago, I did not even know what it was. Zero just sounds cool and the name I always used in Pokemon and other jrpgs for a really long time now and has stuck with me. I hope that everyone will accept this change, and it does not cause me to lose any friendships I have found on this website. I like to thank everyone so far that I told that has accepted me when I just came out about this a few hours ago.

tldr;
I am trans (FTM), boy name(Within two years legal first name) Zero, please use he/him pronouns
So glad you were able to figure it out! It’s always good when you can figure out what’s the best way to represent yourself, and so it’s great to hear you did Zero!
 
In light of some recent events, I've decided I do in fact want to write a big, in depth post about my life! Still love my previous post here, coming out in a single paragraph is definitely my style.

Hi everybody, my name is Robyn (maybe you knew me before as JediR) and I am a sixteen year old transgender girl. Unfortunately, because of various circumstances in my IRL life, I can only take small steps toward transitioning and coming out in real life for now, until those circumstances change.

Ever since I was a young kid I have had thoughts and emotions relating to my own self-image that I could never properly explain. To me, none of this really mattered throughout my early life, I was just a happy little kid who didn't care if people called her a boy or a girl. This changed significantly around the age of eleven or twelve, when puberty hit me like a ton of bricks.

As my body began to develop more and more masculine features, my mental state took a turn toward severe depression (which I now recognize as dysphoria). I stopped sleeping, I abandoned friends whom I had been close to for longer than I could remember, I simply began to do everything in my power to shelter myself, to avoid human contact, and most of all to avoid feeling anything at all. I began to hate my own body even more than ever before. I begged my mother to allow me to grow my hair long (which, despite her many prejudices and misconceptions, she luckily allowed me to do). I would cry in the shower because I hated who I was. I even went through a brief period where I would forcibly pluck out leg hairs as they came in. Ouch!

Unfortunately, at this time, I had no idea that transgender people even existed! I had no idea that there was another option, and that "everyone else" wasn't having these same feelings. And, because of this, instead of confronting my own thoughts I learned to repress all feelings relating to this. I taught myself not to cry, ever - no matter how much it hurt.

But, no matter how much I tried, the feelings never fully went away. I still, deep down, wished I were a girl. I still hated who I was slowly becoming, and at night I would still drift to sleep thinking about what my life would be like had I been born a girl. I would have dreams at night where I would see myself in a girl's body and when I woke up and was reminded that this was just a dream I would frequently be overcome with emotion.

Then, wow, I turned 13! I was COPPA legal! A whole new world opened up for me! I made new friends and joined new communities including this one! And, while I may have still fallen way too far down the rabbit hole of repression to be willing to fully accept or even consider who I truly was, I was able to slowly come to terms with bits and pieces of my identity, largely because of how accepting this community is. Thanks for that!

Fast forward to now (well, about a month ago), nearly three years after joining here, and suddenly for reasons I may never fully understand the walls of emotional repression I built up over all these years began to break. And, understandably, I was scared. But because of the supportive people and community I found here, across PS and Smogon entirely, and to a more specific degree in the PokePride discord linked in the OP of this thread and amongst the people I staff various chatrooms with on PS, I knew I would make it through okay. Thanks guys.

The day I finally gave into the emotions that I had repressed for so very long and actually spoke to (and came out to, kind of) someone about all of this was the most amazing day of my life. I had food poisoning and spent most of the day dealing with that, but I was still happier than I had ever truly been before.

From that day, I very quickly came out to the rest of PS and Smogon, and now I can truly never imagine going back to how I felt before. Feels nice to be who I really am, who would’ve thought.

So that’s my story. I hope someone takes something from it, that’s why I posted here. And if anyone else who is having feelings even remotely similar to how I felt for such a long time wants to talk to me or at me or near me or anything at all I would be more than willing to talk to or to listen to you. I might still be “new on the scene”, but it’s the least I can do to return the favor of what this community did for me.

read the damn post u lazy bum I put a lot of work into this >:(
YES ROBYN YESSS YOU ROCK GIRL NEVER FORGET IT!!!!!
 

Annika

is a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Community Leaderis a Programmer
PS Admin
In light of some recent events, I've decided I do in fact want to write a big, in depth post about my life! Still love my previous post here, coming out in a single paragraph is definitely my style.

Hi everybody, my name is Robyn (maybe you knew me before as JediR) and I am a sixteen year old transgender girl. Unfortunately, because of various circumstances in my IRL life, I can only take small steps toward transitioning and coming out in real life for now, until those circumstances change.

Ever since I was a young kid I have had thoughts and emotions relating to my own self-image that I could never properly explain. To me, none of this really mattered throughout my early life, I was just a happy little kid who didn't care if people called her a boy or a girl. This changed significantly around the age of eleven or twelve, when puberty hit me like a ton of bricks.

As my body began to develop more and more masculine features, my mental state took a turn toward severe depression (which I now recognize as dysphoria). I stopped sleeping, I abandoned friends whom I had been close to for longer than I could remember, I simply began to do everything in my power to shelter myself, to avoid human contact, and most of all to avoid feeling anything at all. I began to hate my own body even more than ever before. I begged my mother to allow me to grow my hair long (which, despite her many prejudices and misconceptions, she luckily allowed me to do). I would cry in the shower because I hated who I was. I even went through a brief period where I would forcibly pluck out leg hairs as they came in. Ouch!

Unfortunately, at this time, I had no idea that transgender people even existed! I had no idea that there was another option, and that "everyone else" wasn't having these same feelings. And, because of this, instead of confronting my own thoughts I learned to repress all feelings relating to this. I taught myself not to cry, ever - no matter how much it hurt.

But, no matter how much I tried, the feelings never fully went away. I still, deep down, wished I were a girl. I still hated who I was slowly becoming, and at night I would still drift to sleep thinking about what my life would be like had I been born a girl. I would have dreams at night where I would see myself in a girl's body and when I woke up and was reminded that this was just a dream I would frequently be overcome with emotion.

Then, wow, I turned 13! I was COPPA legal! A whole new world opened up for me! I made new friends and joined new communities including this one! And, while I may have still fallen way too far down the rabbit hole of repression to be willing to fully accept or even consider who I truly was, I was able to slowly come to terms with bits and pieces of my identity, largely because of how accepting this community is. Thanks for that!

Fast forward to now (well, about a month ago), nearly three years after joining here, and suddenly for reasons I may never fully understand the walls of emotional repression I built up over all these years began to break. And, understandably, I was scared. But because of the supportive people and community I found here, across PS and Smogon entirely, and to a more specific degree in the PokePride discord linked in the OP of this thread and amongst the people I staff various chatrooms with on PS, I knew I would make it through okay. Thanks guys.

The day I finally gave into the emotions that I had repressed for so very long and actually spoke to (and came out to, kind of) someone about all of this was the most amazing day of my life. I had food poisoning and spent most of the day dealing with that, but I was still happier than I had ever truly been before.

From that day, I very quickly came out to the rest of PS and Smogon, and now I can truly never imagine going back to how I felt before. Feels nice to be who I really am, who would’ve thought.

So that’s my story. I hope someone takes something from it, that’s why I posted here. And if anyone else who is having feelings even remotely similar to how I felt for such a long time wants to talk to me or at me or near me or anything at all I would be more than willing to talk to or to listen to you. I might still be “new on the scene”, but it’s the least I can do to return the favor of what this community did for me.

read the damn post u lazy bum I put a lot of work into this >:(
girl I'm so happy for you!

also you've been through a lot of really hard stuff hugs
 
In light of some recent events, I've decided I do in fact want to write a big, in depth post about my life! Still love my previous post here, coming out in a single paragraph is definitely my style.

Hi everybody, my name is Robyn (maybe you knew me before as JediR) and I am a sixteen year old transgender girl. Unfortunately, because of various circumstances in my IRL life, I can only take small steps toward transitioning and coming out in real life for now, until those circumstances change.

Ever since I was a young kid I have had thoughts and emotions relating to my own self-image that I could never properly explain. To me, none of this really mattered throughout my early life, I was just a happy little kid who didn't care if people called her a boy or a girl. This changed significantly around the age of eleven or twelve, when puberty hit me like a ton of bricks.

As my body began to develop more and more masculine features, my mental state took a turn toward severe depression (which I now recognize as dysphoria). I stopped sleeping, I abandoned friends whom I had been close to for longer than I could remember, I simply began to do everything in my power to shelter myself, to avoid human contact, and most of all to avoid feeling anything at all. I began to hate my own body even more than ever before. I begged my mother to allow me to grow my hair long (which, despite her many prejudices and misconceptions, she luckily allowed me to do). I would cry in the shower because I hated who I was. I even went through a brief period where I would forcibly pluck out leg hairs as they came in. Ouch!

Unfortunately, at this time, I had no idea that transgender people even existed! I had no idea that there was another option, and that "everyone else" wasn't having these same feelings. And, because of this, instead of confronting my own thoughts I learned to repress all feelings relating to this. I taught myself not to cry, ever - no matter how much it hurt.

But, no matter how much I tried, the feelings never fully went away. I still, deep down, wished I were a girl. I still hated who I was slowly becoming, and at night I would still drift to sleep thinking about what my life would be like had I been born a girl. I would have dreams at night where I would see myself in a girl's body and when I woke up and was reminded that this was just a dream I would frequently be overcome with emotion.

Then, wow, I turned 13! I was COPPA legal! A whole new world opened up for me! I made new friends and joined new communities including this one! And, while I may have still fallen way too far down the rabbit hole of repression to be willing to fully accept or even consider who I truly was, I was able to slowly come to terms with bits and pieces of my identity, largely because of how accepting this community is. Thanks for that!

Fast forward to now (well, about a month ago), nearly three years after joining here, and suddenly for reasons I may never fully understand the walls of emotional repression I built up over all these years began to break. And, understandably, I was scared. But because of the supportive people and community I found here, across PS and Smogon entirely, and to a more specific degree in the PokePride discord linked in the OP of this thread and amongst the people I staff various chatrooms with on PS, I knew I would make it through okay. Thanks guys.

The day I finally gave into the emotions that I had repressed for so very long and actually spoke to (and came out to, kind of) someone about all of this was the most amazing day of my life. I had food poisoning and spent most of the day dealing with that, but I was still happier than I had ever truly been before.

From that day, I very quickly came out to the rest of PS and Smogon, and now I can truly never imagine going back to how I felt before. Feels nice to be who I really am, who would’ve thought.

So that’s my story. I hope someone takes something from it, that’s why I posted here. And if anyone else who is having feelings even remotely similar to how I felt for such a long time wants to talk to me or at me or near me or anything at all I would be more than willing to talk to or to listen to you. I might still be “new on the scene”, but it’s the least I can do to return the favor of what this community did for me.

read the damn post u lazy bum I put a lot of work into this >:(
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa im so happy for you
 
In light of some recent events, I've decided I do in fact want to write a big, in depth post about my life! Still love my previous post here, coming out in a single paragraph is definitely my style.

Hi everybody, my name is Robyn (maybe you knew me before as JediR) and I am a sixteen year old transgender girl. Unfortunately, because of various circumstances in my IRL life, I can only take small steps toward transitioning and coming out in real life for now, until those circumstances change.

Ever since I was a young kid I have had thoughts and emotions relating to my own self-image that I could never properly explain. To me, none of this really mattered throughout my early life, I was just a happy little kid who didn't care if people called her a boy or a girl. This changed significantly around the age of eleven or twelve, when puberty hit me like a ton of bricks.

As my body began to develop more and more masculine features, my mental state took a turn toward severe depression (which I now recognize as dysphoria). I stopped sleeping, I abandoned friends whom I had been close to for longer than I could remember, I simply began to do everything in my power to shelter myself, to avoid human contact, and most of all to avoid feeling anything at all. I began to hate my own body even more than ever before. I begged my mother to allow me to grow my hair long (which, despite her many prejudices and misconceptions, she luckily allowed me to do). I would cry in the shower because I hated who I was. I even went through a brief period where I would forcibly pluck out leg hairs as they came in. Ouch!

Unfortunately, at this time, I had no idea that transgender people even existed! I had no idea that there was another option, and that "everyone else" wasn't having these same feelings. And, because of this, instead of confronting my own thoughts I learned to repress all feelings relating to this. I taught myself not to cry, ever - no matter how much it hurt.

But, no matter how much I tried, the feelings never fully went away. I still, deep down, wished I were a girl. I still hated who I was slowly becoming, and at night I would still drift to sleep thinking about what my life would be like had I been born a girl. I would have dreams at night where I would see myself in a girl's body and when I woke up and was reminded that this was just a dream I would frequently be overcome with emotion.

Then, wow, I turned 13! I was COPPA legal! A whole new world opened up for me! I made new friends and joined new communities including this one! And, while I may have still fallen way too far down the rabbit hole of repression to be willing to fully accept or even consider who I truly was, I was able to slowly come to terms with bits and pieces of my identity, largely because of how accepting this community is. Thanks for that!

Fast forward to now (well, about a month ago), nearly three years after joining here, and suddenly for reasons I may never fully understand the walls of emotional repression I built up over all these years began to break. And, understandably, I was scared. But because of the supportive people and community I found here, across PS and Smogon entirely, and to a more specific degree in the PokePride discord linked in the OP of this thread and amongst the people I staff various chatrooms with on PS, I knew I would make it through okay. Thanks guys.

The day I finally gave into the emotions that I had repressed for so very long and actually spoke to (and came out to, kind of) someone about all of this was the most amazing day of my life. I had food poisoning and spent most of the day dealing with that, but I was still happier than I had ever truly been before.

From that day, I very quickly came out to the rest of PS and Smogon, and now I can truly never imagine going back to how I felt before. Feels nice to be who I really am, who would’ve thought.

So that’s my story. I hope someone takes something from it, that’s why I posted here. And if anyone else who is having feelings even remotely similar to how I felt for such a long time wants to talk to me or at me or near me or anything at all I would be more than willing to talk to or to listen to you. I might still be “new on the scene”, but it’s the least I can do to return the favor of what this community did for me.

read the damn post u lazy bum I put a lot of work into this >:(
Wishing you the best! I know it can be hard when you can't take the steps towards transitioning that you want, just be patient and one day you'll get there!
 
young LGBT teens should avoid spending too much time online, especially in LGBT discords and on LGBT boards/forums. these places are damaging to young and easily impressionable minds, and they are rife with predators.

i see a lot of younger ppl making coming out posts in here, so i just want to offer that advice i wish someone gave to me when i was younger. turn off the damn computer sometimes.
 
young LGBT teens should avoid spending too much time online, especially in LGBT discords and on LGBT boards/forums. these places are damaging to young and easily impressionable minds, and they are rife with predators.

i see a lot of younger ppl making coming out posts in here, so i just want to offer that advice i wish someone gave to me when i was younger. turn off the damn computer sometimes.
While it can be a scary place, it can also help people recognize themselves or starting to ask questions to help achieve their best selves. There's a give and take as to the benefits of having an online presence for someone.
 

Asheviere

Banned deucer.
young LGBT teens should avoid spending too much time online, especially in LGBT discords and on LGBT boards/forums. these places are damaging to young and easily impressionable minds, and they are rife with predators.

i see a lot of younger ppl making coming out posts in here, so i just want to offer that advice i wish someone gave to me when i was younger. turn off the damn computer sometimes.
Hi TIK
 

Asheviere

Banned deucer.
Please don't be so dismissive of someone whose journey you don't know about! Especially someone looking out for the interests of a vulnerable group of youth.
I'm dismissive of someone making a blanket statement around LGBT safe spaces being dangerous and full of predators with absolutely nothing to support that claim. I assume starry has had some negative personal experiences in a LGBT space, which sucks. It is totally true that there are some terrible LGBT spaces on the internet, but generalizing all of them, and recommending vulnerable teenagers DON'T seek out support online (which is the only place they can get any support in a lot of places on the planet) is far more harmful in my eyes.
 

The Official Glyx

Banned deucer.
young LGBT teens should avoid spending too much time online, especially in LGBT discords and on LGBT boards/forums. these places are damaging to young and easily impressionable minds, and they are rife with predators.

i see a lot of younger ppl making coming out posts in here, so i just want to offer that advice i wish someone gave to me when i was younger. turn off the damn computer sometimes.
May I ask how they might be damaging? This is a very large claim to make without any kind of evidence or reasoning backing it up-

On the note of predators, it's not like the real world isn't also full of manipulative people- If anything, online is objectively safer, as you can limit interactions with people as you please.
 

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