Walk a mile in my shoes
May. 9th, 2008 02:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengr(swiped from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
griffen)
What it means to be out - and what it means to be in
Any of the folks reading this who aren't TG, kinky or otherwise "non-standard" are invited to try that little test mentioned in the article.
Like the writer, I've *lived* that.
My first crush was on a gay friend back in 1974. He tolerated it but had to warn me not to hold hands with him or anything like that in public. And and shook up my sheltered 19-year-old brain when he explained that if anyone got the idea we were more than friends, we'd be lucky if all that happened was that we got beaten up.
Years later, when I finally got the courage to get involved with the local BDSM community, I lived the bit about having to talk around what you did on your weekend.
We won't go into the "fun" a few years later as the OCA targeted not just gays, but "witches/pagans" and "sadomasochists".
At least I've managed to have somewhat less trouble with being TG. Though I'm still not going to be blatant about it if I find a job. Gender Identity may be protected by anti-discrimination laws, but I'd rather not be a test case.
griffen)What it means to be out - and what it means to be in
Any of the folks reading this who aren't TG, kinky or otherwise "non-standard" are invited to try that little test mentioned in the article.
Like the writer, I've *lived* that.
My first crush was on a gay friend back in 1974. He tolerated it but had to warn me not to hold hands with him or anything like that in public. And and shook up my sheltered 19-year-old brain when he explained that if anyone got the idea we were more than friends, we'd be lucky if all that happened was that we got beaten up.
Years later, when I finally got the courage to get involved with the local BDSM community, I lived the bit about having to talk around what you did on your weekend.
We won't go into the "fun" a few years later as the OCA targeted not just gays, but "witches/pagans" and "sadomasochists".
At least I've managed to have somewhat less trouble with being TG. Though I'm still not going to be blatant about it if I find a job. Gender Identity may be protected by anti-discrimination laws, but I'd rather not be a test case.
