Two weeks ago, I told my very conservative mother I was trans, less than a month after I finally admitted it to myself at 27 y/o. I'm starting hormones very soon - I figured telling her before HRT was easier than after. She's a "we need to give poor people less money!" kind of conservative much more than the "we need to win the culture war" kind, so I really thought she'd be okay, but I guess I forgot how enthusiastically she voted for Trump.
She's made it made it clear how much she cares for her children, so I thought she could eventually be okay with it. I became too chronically ill to work last year, and she's been supporting me financially, while I'm not even living with her. I don't doubt she loves me, and I want to have confidence in her so much. I knew better than to ask for correct pronouns in the near future, but I had so much confidence in that she would get it
eventually.
Today, she wanted to "talk", after processing all of her feelings from two weeks ago. We talked about it for at least an hour. She has minimal familiarity on the subject; knew there is a difference between gender and sexuality, but "sexuality" seemed to be lost to her. Her biggest question was "how do you know?" and after explaining my depression, body dissociation, and gender dysphoria, she still wasn't convinced. She was so firm that "That really doesn't have to mean trans!" (I'd been telling myself the same for a decade.) I was brazen enough to declare "Most guys like porn- the only thing I've really found attractive for the past few years is the idea of being a woman." And I awkwardly stumbled through what that meant. She did not like it, and refused to even think about it. I've felt dirty, disgusting, and cringe all day about how she reacted. I wish I never told her. I wish I could take that back.
She cried about calling me her daughter, instead of son. She told me the acne scars below my jawline would be a lot more visible without a beard. She tried to dissuade me from being effeminate at all.
I'm only even out to one transfem friend, and her. I thought I'd be able to get my mother on my side. I thought she'd swallow it better after he daughter
chose to be vulnerable. It could have been worse. She's not demanding I move back home and don't take hormones, or stop entirely. But, all in all, her feelings about it today were much worse than her feelings when I first told her two weeks ago. And I don't think she's gonna get better. Going forward, she's not getting the full truth.
I don't think I can really lie to her and telling her I'm detransing. That's not a lie I could convincingly tell. I'm not sure
what I'll tell her in the future. I'm supposed to call her after my Planned Parenthood appointment this week.
If you're curious about more of the story, you could read my first post, but it's far from necessary.
I'm Telling My Mom Tomorrow