communication

So you’re ready to start talking openly about your gender, and you want to come out of the shadows and live as yourself. Coming out stories are as diverse as gender itself and you have a whole lot of options in front of you, depending on the level of support you anticipate from friends, family, school, and the world at large.

I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling insecure in your sexual relationship. It’s understandable that you’d feel a bit uncertain about your girlfriend’s enjoyment of sex since it sounds like you aren’t getting much, if any, honest feedback from her and are worried her responses during sex aren’t genuine…

First things first - it sounds like your family needs to step back and let you make your own choices here, without adding their own commentary or judgment. They may be coming from a place of concern, but it’s misguided and hurtful, and whether they wind up being right about this or not, it’s still…

Rule #1 of partnered sex: no one is entitled to any kind of sex with another person. Safe, healthy, pleasurable sex can only happen when both people are on the same page, and they respect each other’s boundaries and desires. Honestly, what I read in your question are many feelings of anger and…

What do you do in dating when one person is trans and one is cisgender?

Breakups are rarely any fun, for either party involved. It can be hard to figure out a way to end a romantic relationship without causing too much pain or awkwardness, especially when you still really care about the person you’re breaking up with. Since it sounds like you’re pretty sure that this…

If you’re caring for a young person, then the question of when and how to have “the talk” with them has likely crossed your mind.

There are so many things that make me glad in your question. Glad that L has at least one person that he feels safe sharing that part of himself with. Glad you reacted positively and confirmed his trust in you. But oh how I am not glad that he’s still in a situation where he doesn’t feel comfortable…

Identity can be such an obnoxious creature sometimes. Just when you think you’ve got it all sorted out, some new evidence pops up and you have to rethink things. And I don’t need to tell you how frustrating that shift can be, because you’re in the middle of it. It can be doubly trying if you’ve…

Dr. Karen Rayne has spent a decade supporting parents and young adults with well-researched, thoughtful discussion of sex and sexuality.