Coming out is so scary, I feel for you. At least some of others reactions are due to unfamiliarity with how one determines that they are trans, what it means for your future and, indeed, how your coming out might affect them and their relationships. I suggest a couple of things:

- Be aware that you’ve had your feelings about your birth gender for a very long time. Even if you didn’t even have a concept of being transgender, you have learned a lot. For your family and friends this is all new. It’s best if you’re patient and calm with them. They are transitioning too.

- Prepare your own Frequently Asked Questions and answers. Thinking about this and writing it all down helps prepare you to provide better answers with the defensiveness that can arise when we feel pressure. Idea: post you FAQ here in your blog!

- Create a short list of videos and perhaps websites or readings that some may appreciate so they can learn on their own. Some may be fascinated and want to know lots more! Others may be skeptical...

Best wishes!

Emma

Yeah thanks.

Coming out is hard, but then I never hid my plans of transitioning to anyone.

Met a friend after being absent from each others lives for basically a decade.  When she saw me she said, "You finally did what you told us as a teenager when I met you, good on you for grabbing life by the balls.  It must've been difficult seeing that you in the police and the environment isn't the safest to do so."  We started chatting again, and the decade of absence in our 24 years of knowing each other hasn't changed.  I found one of my rocks returning and supporting me all over again.  Just as she got the support from a friend she needed.

If the people in your life views you as important to them, they will support your decision full heartedly, and actually ask you why you never started earlier or had the courage to ask them for help when you were at your most confused and vulnerable.

Be strong, my mom, one brother and sister still can't manage to get the pronouns right, but I know if push comes to shove, they'll be in my corner.  Even if I sometimes have to emotionally blackmail them.

Hugs

Michele