“Getting older feels odd because I expected to be dead by now”
Later this year I will become 35 years old.
I came out as trans during pride season several years ago when I was about 27, and before that, I came out as generically queer when I was about 17. It seems that in just a few more years after I turn 37, I should be ripe for another coming-out experience, but, fortunately, that’s not the way anything works. I’m tapped dry, and much of my experience has been laid bare for my friends, family, and even the world around me to see. For the most part, when I came out as trans the last of my secrets were forced out into the open, except for maybe the one about that TV show nobody knows I watch with my cats late at night.
Coming Out in Two Acts:
My first coming out experience could be best described as loud. I decided that an explosive argument about gay rights with my mom was the best time to come out as queer, and the rest is history. My parents’ conservative religious and political views have softened quite a bit over time, however. Where they were once Fox News Republicans, they are now much more left-leaning in their politics. If asked, I think they’d even tell you they’re proud to have a queer kid.
Some combination of my parents evolving, coming to see Fox News as lies, and wanting to keep me in their…
