In honor of it being National Coming out Day, I'm going to explain the major difference between coming out as LGB (Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual) and coming out as Transgender. Since I have done both, I feel that I have a good grasp on the difference. Society accepts one group more than they accept the other. In this case, society accepts LGB people more than they accept Transgender people. It's a sad fact.
At the age of 13, I realized that I liked girls, identifying as a girl as well at the time, I decided I was a lesbian, and that was fine with me. I had a longterm girlfriend from the age of 13 to 15, and it was then at the age of 15 that I came out as transgender.
When I came out the first time around as a lesbian, I told my parents, I made a facebook post, and I received nothing but positive and accepting messages. To me, it seemed as though it really wasn't a big deal, and honestly, people didn't really care much. Now, I know I am aware that my situation is different from many people, and unfortunately, there are a ton of LGB youth who don't get the same treatment that I did from family and friends.
The reality of it is that LGB people are not a rarity, they aren't feared (for the most part) and are generally accepted in 2017 (Trust me, I know there is still a lot of work to be done.) When it comes to being transgender, and coming out, it's scary. I waited almost 2 years before coming out to my dad as transgender. The next thing about coming out as transgender is that you don't come out just once like you would when you are LGB. I find myself telling people that I am transgender at least twice a week so that they will gender me correctly.
With all of this in mind, you have to remember that I never know how someone is going to react to me coming out as transgender to them. In my experience, when I was identifying as a lesbian in the past, I would tell people, and they would shrug it off, and they wouldn't really care. Now, as a transgender man, I tell people that I am a guy, and they don't believe me. I tell people that my pronouns are he/him/his and they don't use them.
When it comes to coming out, telling people who you love is much easier than telling people who you are, because they will deny it until they die. They will insist that you are who they see you as, and that's one major problem that needs to be fixed.
