Allie is out at work and no one has batted an eye. It turns out that they had a transwoman work at the same store before. Allie dresses androgynously enough that she could really go either way on the gender spectrum, so they don’t have any complaints at work as long as she’s a good sales woman. I have told a few of my co-workers about my relationship, but only the ones I trust and feel won’t give me a hard time for it. I can’t afford for my job to be in jeopardy, and my boss is somewhat sexist. I don’t know how he would react to a lesbian dating a transwoman.

Turning Point

I was not always comfortable with our relationship. I was horribly repressed in high school and was never really sure of who I was. I grew up in a very unconventional, three generation household that consists of a very loving and accepting mom, a caring and old school protestant grandmother, and a rough-around-the-edges, but protective, dad. My mom loved (and still loves me) for who I am.

Things started to change my freshman year at Temple when I got to sit behind a red-headed fellow in math class who absolutely fascinated me. The more we talked, the more I came out of my shell and actually talked to people. Anti-social, introverted me! After talking with a mutual friend of ours about two months into our fall freshman semester, I was convinced to get dressed up in my best “knock ‘em dead” outfit… rather, one that I was almost comfortable wearing. I even broke that unspoken “girls wait for the guy to ask them out” bit and I did the asking. Two days later, my “guy” told me he wanted to be a girl. I shocked both myself and him with my response. Instead of saying, “Nevermind” and running like hell, I asked, “So… are you interested in girls or not then?”

For the first eight months that we dated, Allie and I played straight. She tried to take her cues from all the masculine behaviors she had tried to learn for twenty years and I tried to be the supportive, but still submissive girlfriend. Allie laughs every time I even try to describe myself as submissive, because, quite frankly, I’m not. However, even she will concede that we awkwardly tried to play the roles that society thought we should be playing. And we were almost happy with it.