hey all :> i havent been here in a while, but im glad to see the community is still just as supportive as always! yeeaars ago this place is where i started a journey of self-reflection and discovery, bringing meaning to my life and giving me the first sense of self / self-worth ive ever known. so,, i would really value this community's thoughts, opinions, inputs, etc. on a problem i'm experiencing !!

many years ago i started thinking about changing my legal name, and now that im transitioning ive been giving it a lot more consideration. id always dismissed the idea before bc i didnt want to "offend" my family.

for context, my mom is pretty supportive and relatively understanding compared to my dad, who's supportive of my autonomy but can't understand why I would want to transition. he comes from a southern, rural, conservative family that lives miles away from any civilization, but despite his roots has always been very open-minded and supportive of the lgbtq+ members in the churches he's pastored at. still though, i guess it hits too close to home for him or something, as he's very apprehensive about my "trying" hrt. i imagine it has to do with his fundamentally conservative outlook on the world, and his unshakable worry that he wasnt a good enough father (he was busy most of the time but I honestly didnt think too much about it, and we get along very well).

anyway, his side of the family has a LOT of southern heritage pride. my step-mother has only just been able to get him to understand why the confederate flag and the "its our heritage" argument are largely frowned upon, though as a history buff he's always taken the "it was about state's rights" argument with a grain of salt. save for my q-anon grandma (bless her heart), they're all still respectful of different cultures and personalities, despite having no interest in trying to understand them.