P.S. A request for advice is at the very end of the post. The most of it is just backstory, I guess? So you can skip it if you feel like it. (Also sorry for any mistakes)
It took me a lot of time and effort to decide to come out.
I imagined hundreds of possible outcomes, from where I was kicked out of the house or brainwashed against my will, to where they told me they already suspected it, waited for me to open up and took me in their arms. I was scared, I cried when I imagined how I would do it and what would happen next, but I couldn't keep it to myself anymore.
Deep down, I hoped that I would be accepted, but "even if not," I consoled myself, "at least I will be able to not hide who I am and use my pronouns" (my native language is very gendered). I was shaking when I sent the coming-out letter. I thought about telling it in person, but I was terribly scared.
I've been waiting for an answer all day
. In the end, mom asked me to call. We didn't talk about my trans identity. We talked about my selfishness. Perhaps I was harsh in my letter, trying to convey how hard and painful it was for me and how some of their comments hurt me, I do not know. They said they loved me and wouldn't give up on me. I believed in the second statement, but it was very difficult to believe in the first.
Next is a week of silence. Rare correspondence, all the past warmth disappeared, I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to say too much
, I saw how hard it was for my mom. Finally, a week and a half later, a conversation took place. I listened and said almost nothing.
Mom said that after my confession, she felt a "hole in her heart", that after I addressed myself in the masculine gender in one of text messages, she felt awful (after that she asked me not to talk about myself using male pronouns with her), how bad she had been all week and how she was preparing for this conversation.
There was still hope inside me. I thought: "If she thinks about it and experiences it, then she's trying to accept it." I was wrong. She said that I was wrong and that I had come to the wrong conclusion because of my mental state had worsened around the age of 18. I didn't agree with her, but I didn't deny it. I felt a little relieved that she had spoken out.
I didn't make any caustic remarks when my sister said she didn't understand my trans identity and wasn't going to or want to research this topic, and then added: "You don't want to research [insert her university discipline], do you?" I thought: "Could it be worse?" I nodded when my mom asked me to think carefully and consider the idea that I'm not a trans guy. I tried and it didn't work out. My mental state has worsened. I still remember my tantrum in the uni bathroom, which prompted me to go to a therapist. There was too much of everything: I felt that I was not living, but existing, that I would never be able to live openly, and no one but a couple of close friends would accept me, that I would forever have to play this role.
And my mom and sister didn't even know that my condition was largely caused by their rejection. I didn't tell them.
It's been more than two months and nothing has changed (and that's bad). They act as if there was no coming out. They call me by my deadname and use the wrong pronouns, they don't try at all. I have a feeling that they are hoping that this is temporary and soon I will come running with a smile on my face, saying that I was wrong and they were right. Or that I would just silently go back to that old version of myself that they liked so much.
The worst thing is that their rejection makes me feel so ashamed of myself. I can't stop thinking about how wonderful it would be if I wasn't who I am. It would be so much easier.
But I'm dying of shame. I'm ashamed to use my pronouns with my sister (I did it only thrice during this whole time), and I don't do it with my mom because I'm afraid to see her reaction. And I was hoping that at least I could do that. I recently officially changed my name to a neutral (unisex?) one (the biggest thing I can do in the disgusting country I live in) and I'm starting to feel sick when I think I need to tell them about it.
I know they won't be happy. I feel like a disgrace to the family.
And at the same time, sometimes I feel very angry at them and at the fact that my coming out didn't lead to anything. I can't help myself.
I look at my mom saying, "I love you" and pulling me into her arms, and I want to scream at the top of my lungs: "Who do you love?!". Both
my mom and my sister treat me with care and kindness, except for the fact that they just don't accept me. My mom even asks me about girls, if I'm dating any of them: she can accept that I'm queer and she believes me, but she denies the other part of me. I don't understand why.
My sister said that she treats gays and lesbians well, but she will never understand trans people. I don't understand why. Why do they say they love me, but they don't even try to understand or accept me?
This rejection makes me feel like a child. Like I'm being stupid if I ask them to accept my identity when "it's obvious that I'm not a guy." I hate this feeling– I'm 21 - f*cking - years old.
For several days now, I've been thinking about speaking out and sharing my feelings with them, but every time I find an excuse. Sometimes I'm too anxious, sometimes my mom is in a good mood and I'm afraid to spoil it, or something else. How much longer will I wait?
Sorry for this mess. Thanks to everyone who read it. I will be very grateful for advice from those who have/have had non-accepting family members. Maybe someone's parents accepted them over time: how did this happen? I know that two months is a short time and some parents need a lot more, but
I am suffering a lot and losing hope every day. It seems to me that my mother and sister will always love me as their daughter and sister, while I will painfully try to reciprocate as their son and brother. Also: how to overcome this feeling of guilt about your identity (because of the rejection of close ones) and feel more confident just to be themselves around them?
TD;LR
After my coming out as trans nothing has changed. My mom and sister still call me by my deadname, use wrong pronouns and see me as their daughter and sister. It's like I hadn't even came out to them. I feel guilty to be myself around them and to stand out for myself. I really need advice.