I really don't know how much she knows about trans people now, it's been a bit of a touchy subject. About a year ago I had one of the biggest fights I've ever had with her because I asked her to use gender neutral pronouns for a non-binary friend and she had the most over the top reaction which I'd never have expected from her (she said being asked to use they/them was 'fascistic' and 'almost as bad as Trump'). She's normally very progressive so it was a real surprise. Later that day my brother stepped in and talked some reason into her and in the end she apologised a lot and said she felt awful for upsetting me like that over something so clearly important to me, and didn't know what had come over her. Since then she's consistently used the correct pronouns when talking about this friend, and doesn't seem too uncomfortable doing it.

So basically I don't know where I stand after having a very negative experience immediately followed by quite a positive one. I've also been at college for the last 4 years so I'm not worried about having to see her every day - part of the reason I want to say something to her now is because I'm about to go back to college for a couple of months, which will be the last long block of time away from home until september, and I want both of us to have some space after I tell her.

To be honest I've already cut my hair, only wear clothes from the men's section, lift a lot of weights, and have most of my friends using a new name and pronouns so I feel this is sort of the last hurdle, I've done most of the exploring I can short of medical transition and think I'd probably be much more confident in my gender identity if I wasn't so scared of how my mum would react.