Hey Riley, so much of what you’ve written is often something we see or experienced. I personally know for Steven, he always knew he was trans, but while initially didn’t have any way to acknowledge it because it simply wasn’t talked about like it is today – see his CC piece on it if you haven’t already, that even when we did begin to find out more about the transgender community, it still took him time to acknowledge it all. Fun fact: it took me, as we lay in bed one night, to say to him outright; Do you need to be a transgender man? Because I feel you do, and if so I fully support you. The biggest thing holding him back at the time was the fear of losing me, of losing us. After all, I had, for 30 about years, lived as a lesbian. This was going to be a huge shift in our whole life. Plus, the worry of his family and my family accepting him. It takes time to figure these fears out, and if your doing it pretty much on your own, it is infinitely harder. It sounds to me as of you’re doing exceptionally well under the circumstances. None of us know what we are really doing going in to the start of it all. We all fumble along, make mistakes or reach out to others in the community, who you know have experienced similar, and see if they can offer advice. Plus I’m old enough to be your not just your mother, but your fucking grandmother (shit now I feel old 😂) so hugs coming your way! You’ve got this kiddo. When you’re struggling to believe in yourself, remember that we do believe in you. You’re valid. You’re loved. You are part of an awesome community. You’ve got this. 💙🦋💜

Hi Riley, for some reason this comment section is messing about so i will keep this short for now lol I’m so proud of you. It can be challenging at the start but it does get easier as clichéd that may sound. Look forward to sharing more posts once the place is up and running better.