Hey Mo!

I guess my biggest question is how do you deal with people who've never even heard the term "non-binary trans person"?

And secondly, if you are out to your parents, how did you handle that?

Name: same as now OR something I haven't figured out yet OR how I used to mispronounce my name when I was 3 since I can still self-identity with it but it sounds more like a feminized version of a particularly common male name OR that male name, with my mispronunciation as a nickname Sex: female bec...

Edit: thanks KittyPink for your own perspective. UPDATE: My acquaintance/possible new friend has agreed to talk with me soon. And I went to peer support hours at the community centre and had a good chat with someone whom, although cisgender-identified and not very educated about non-binary identitie...

My gender identity is in turmoil right now. I have been questioning my gender identity for a long time, but I've only really just today decided to grab the bull by the horns and confront this instead of burying my head in the sand and pretending those thoughts don't exist. I have always bucked certa...

I'm short on time right now, so I'm going to come back later and read everyone else's posts, but I wanted to leave my two cents here while I have a moment. It's hard for me to love my body right now and just in general. I've always felt fat (and attached major negative connotations to that word), bu...

Thank you both. Yeah I was pretty surprised. I'm okay though now. It sucks because I have so few friends that losing any relationship has a serious impact on my social life. So I think I'm more upset about losing him as a friend, then I am as a partner. (And he made it pretty clear that time constra...

After all this thinking about how good it was going to be to be having this experience, he ended things. Pretty damn tactlessly and thoughtlessly, I might add. I feel hurt and a bit broken. I feel sad. I feel like I've lost the next few weeks of potential. This sucks. EDITED TO ADD: Y'know, I've nev...

Thanks Carmen, I really liked the things you had to say too. Sometimes that can mean "I'm not letting myself feel too much for you" (although I think realistically, it's tough to keep ourselves from feeling things!) but it can also mean "I'm trying to accept that nothing in life is pe...

The conversation went pretty well. We were both open and frank with each other. We have decided that exclusivity suits what we're both looking for best right now. As per the issue of the relationship's expiry date, he has said he's trying not to let himself get too attached to me. We had a pretty go...

Yes, I plan to be very open with him. You're right that that is very important. Thanks for that piece from Dr NerdLove, it really helped by giving me some good ideas of how to go about this conversation. I've texted him to let him know that I want to have a conversation about this and now I'm anxiou...

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and it's sequel A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers are both great in my opinion. They're not heavily focused on LGBT+ topics, but they have relationships and individuals from the LGBT+ community, which can be nice. Sometimes I just want to read a book w...

Hey Sam, thanks for such a quick reply! Something to think about in terms of the expiration date is that accepting that the relationship has an end date doesn't mean you can't enjoy it up until then. Some people in your position (and their partner) will decide to make the most of the relationship wh...

Hello everyone! So I've recently started dating someone new and I'm having a great time. He's sweet, caring and fun to be around. We have built up a good set of communication skills around sex and unlike the hasty decisions I've made in the past, we are consistently practicing safer sex. It hasn't b...

Thanks for all the articles Sam, I'll take a look.

Hello everyone! Those of you who have been around since the old boards might remember that I had one particularly unhealthy relationship in which my boyfriend became emotionally dependent on me. Since then I've had one major relationship, which quite frankly was ill-advised because of a major langua...

One thing I did want to ask about from up there was this: Thanks for this. I was really disappointed today to hear my dad casually mentioning the guy's name in conversation, like he had done nothing wrong and was an average regular person. It's pretty ooky, at best, to have to listen to someone tal...

My gender expression has gone through lots of ebbs and flows. When I started buying my own clothes, I bought basically the same stuff my mom had been buying for me my whole life: flower patterned modest-length dresses or t-shirts and pants. And as I grew up, I continued to buy the same sort of thing...

...you could come up with a plan for what you're going to do if he's there at the same time you are (e.g. would you leave, occupy yourself to look busy, etc). Even if you don't end up needing them, having plans for what to do can help you feel calmer. This is a good idea. I like the idea about occu...

Hi Sam, I did end up getting a message back from him and it didn't say anything creepy, so I am relieved. (Said some stupid things about how the work I had completed was sub par and incomplete and less than he had expected. All of which tells me he has no inkling that he has done anything wrong, or ...

So I told my parents and I feel a bit better about things because of it. I am done working for this guy. I tied up the loose ends that I couldn't avoid (took me about 20 minutes) and sent him an email stating simply that I could no longer do the work for him and providing him with the details he did...

Thank you both for your replies. No, he hasn't done this before. I don't know why I don't want to tell my parents. Part of it is that I don't want them to be sad that this person has sexually harassed me (thank you Heather for giving this a title). Part of it is that I am uncomfortable about what ha...

Last week, I was texting back and forth with a friend of my parents who I am doing some work for about that work and then he said something to the effect of "I really like you. But can I really say that since I know so much more than you. Thinking that is not immoral." (I don't remember ex...

Just want to let you know I've seen this and I'm working on a response.

Thanks!

Thank you Heather. And yeah, I know I put myself at risk for STIs. I've gotten tested and will retest in 6 months as per my doctor's recommendations. And until then, condoms. Oh and condoms until he is tested too, though I don't know how easy it is to get tested in his country, so that could well me...

(Btw, I feel a bit like my responses to you lately haven't been sitting well with you, so if you're feeling like you'd rather talk to another staff member besides myself for any reason, please just let me know, and I'll leave your posts for someone you feel more of an affinity with.) They really ar...