So I tell people I was in the Army for...
7 years and then they like to say “Oh I almost joined” ....why volunteer that?
36-40, M
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CestManan · 46-50, F
I was in for three years. At the time, it seemed like this big deal but nowadays I don't even think about it much.
The only time I even think to tell anyone I was in is if they too were military.
One thing I would tell someone who is thinking of going in full time - the life they leave behind when going in will not likely be the life they go back to when getting out. That is the one thing I wish I had understood before going in.
The only time I even think to tell anyone I was in is if they too were military.
One thing I would tell someone who is thinking of going in full time - the life they leave behind when going in will not likely be the life they go back to when getting out. That is the one thing I wish I had understood before going in.
CestManan · 46-50, F
@BlueVeins Yeah it was years after getting out. It was back in 1993 - 1996 that I was in the army. At the time, I hardly knew TG even existed. I think at the time I was more focused on getting through my obligation. I never wanted to be in the army but was too chicken to tell my recruiter "No". Those guys are kind of intimidating yet friendly at the same time.
About "not going back to the life one left", I think that is true for anyone who leaves "home" for more than a year or two. IN my case, I was fresh out of high school, got in the army, and three years later after getting out, had already married and had a child on the way. So yeah, my own life was very different.
About "not going back to the life one left", I think that is true for anyone who leaves "home" for more than a year or two. IN my case, I was fresh out of high school, got in the army, and three years later after getting out, had already married and had a child on the way. So yeah, my own life was very different.
CestManan · 46-50, F
@BlueVeins During service - minimal dysphoria but my mind was more focused on just trying to make it day to day in the army life.
One thing about that - back then there just wasn't much support for anyone LGBT. One had to search a little more. It wasn't like today when even a not-so-passable TG like myself could just go out and be mostly unnoticed.
I tell ya, attitudes towards LGBT have vastly improved in the past 20 years.
Family - My step parents didn't take real well to it but then that relationship has always been strained. Rest of my family didn't mind.
That is one thing from then and now that hasn't changed - if you have a good bond with someone, coming out as LGBT doesn't affect things but if the bond is shaky, things tend to get worse.
One thing about that - back then there just wasn't much support for anyone LGBT. One had to search a little more. It wasn't like today when even a not-so-passable TG like myself could just go out and be mostly unnoticed.
I tell ya, attitudes towards LGBT have vastly improved in the past 20 years.
Family - My step parents didn't take real well to it but then that relationship has always been strained. Rest of my family didn't mind.
That is one thing from then and now that hasn't changed - if you have a good bond with someone, coming out as LGBT doesn't affect things but if the bond is shaky, things tend to get worse.
BlueVeins · 22-25
@CestManan Yeah, I'm really glad I don't live in the '80s or '90s; the culture has gotten so much looser. Even growing up in the early 2010s, I feel like things used to be almost puritanical, but even that's nothing compared to what your generation has had to put up with. Glad you're still around, you must be quite the toughie.
CestManan · 46-50, F
@BlueVeins The funny thing back in the 80's though was that even though being gay was taboo and much more so for TG, we had a bunch of rock bands that dressed like chicks.
One difference for LGBT back then though - since there wasn't as big a scene or community, there wasn't much temptation to be "out".
One difference - back then, people loved to "out" us. Now that we are out and proud, the homophobes wish we would go back in the closet.
I am no tougher than anyone else. I have been living this full time since 2010 so it just seems normal.
One difference for LGBT back then though - since there wasn't as big a scene or community, there wasn't much temptation to be "out".
One difference - back then, people loved to "out" us. Now that we are out and proud, the homophobes wish we would go back in the closet.
I am no tougher than anyone else. I have been living this full time since 2010 so it just seems normal.